AMIT KUMAR (EXECUTIVE) 03 December 2010

Liability of State in Death from Robbery

Dear All,

I'd like to ask the learned members of the community a few question based on the tragic incident which happened to my family as per below:-

My Family including of my parents and sister and his husband (with their two small children) had stopped at a roadside eatery for dinner on 08.08.2008, at Barout, Baghpat in UP, where some miscreants (whom the Police couldn't nab, till date nor any case has been filed against them) killed my father and my brother in law.I am attaching herewith the newspaper clipping about the incident which appeared a after the incident.

Now my questions are:-

1. Are the dependents of the killed can claim compensation from the state for the loss of the lives? As per my knowledge, although I am not a lawyer, the right to live is a constitutional right. Further, to maintain peace and security of the land and protect the lives of the civilians, the state is responsible. So can we file the suit for claiming the compensation from the state.

2. Under which Act this petition'll be filed?

3. Which court will have the jurisdiction as the crime was committed in UP while we reside in Delhi?

4. Is there any time limit up to which these petition could be filed?

5.What will be the requirement to be fulfilled for filing the petition?

Any help in the above matter will be helpful for the two young children (now 6 and 3 years old) who have lost their father at so young age and my sister (only 26 years of age).

Sincerely looking forward for genuine responses from the members.

Amit Kumar

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3 Replies

Democratic Indian (n/a) 04 December 2010

" Are the dependents of the killed can claim compensation from the state for the loss of the lives? As per my knowledge, although I am not a lawyer, the right to live is a constitutional right."

The right to life is no doubt a fundamental right guaranteed by Constitution under Article 21, but it is a negative right of the citizens and also a negative obligation of the State.

By negative rights it means you can choose whether to enjoy the rights to the fullest extent or not. It also means state cannot create obstacles before you to prevent you from enjoying your rights to the fullest extent, if you choose to do so.

By negative obligation of state it means state is not obligated to provide you the conditions so that you can enjoy the right to life to the fullest extent. For example you cannot say that since you want to enjoy your life to the fullest extent by flying in a helicopter daily, the state should provide you with one. But if you decide to buy a helicopter with money earned by you, the state cannot stop you.

Article 21 covers many human and fundamental rights which include the Right to Self Defense and the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. Corrolary to Right to Self Defense we have Sections 96 to 106 IPC. To regulate the fundamental Right to Keep and Bear Arms we have Arms Act 1959. Please read the following link, it has been discussed in detail at: https://www.lawyersclubindia.com/profile.asp?member_id=85234

In your case, the victims became "succesful" victims of crime because they did not take responsibility of their own lives upon themselves by excersising their fundamental rights of Self Defense and RKBA. How can you blame the State for this?

Democratic Indian (n/a) 04 December 2010

Democratic Indian (n/a) 05 December 2010

You can make a case against the State for preventing the victims and those accompanying them from excercising the fundamental rights of Self Defense and RKBA which resulted in the death of two of your family members, causing irreparable, unlimited emotional and monetary loss if atleast one the following are present:

1) Any of the victims or any of those accompanying them on journey had arms licenses but were not able to carry them because the area validity of arms license did not cover the place where the crime took place.

2) Any of the victims or any of those accompanying them on journey had applied for arms license before and license application was rejected or unreasonably delayed and the crime occurred before the license was issued.