Public law compensation for a cinema tragedy was maintainable where safety breaches and hazardous activity caused foreseeable loss of life.

A writ petition under Article 226 was held maintainable for public law compensation where a public tragedy caused deaths and injuries through breaches of clear safety duties. The Court distinguished constitutional compensation from private law damages and held that disputed facts did not bar relief when core violations were evident from the record. Applying strict or absolute liability for hazardous activity, it found failures in electrical safety, structural compliance, evacuation arrangements, and municipal and licensing oversight contributed to the disaster. The cinema owners and public authorities were held jointly and severally liable, with additional punitive recovery directed against the cinema owners and broader safety measures recommended to prevent recurrence.

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Issues: (i) whether a writ petition under Article 226 was maintainable for claiming compensation for deaths and injuries caused in a public tragedy; (ii) whether the cinema management, the licensing authority, the electricity board and the municipal authority were liable in public law for breach of statutory safety obligations and, if so, what compensation and consequential reliefs should follow.

Issue (i): whether a writ petition under Article 226 was maintainable for claiming compensation for deaths and injuries caused in a public tragedy.

Analysis: The Court held that where large-scale loss of life and injury occurs because public authorities and private operators fail to observe clear safety norms, the High Court can entertain a public law claim for compensation instead of relegating victims to a civil suit. It relied on the settled distinction between private law damages and public law compensation, and treated the claim as one founded on constitutional protection of life and on enforceable public duties. The existence of disputed factual aspects did not, by itself, defeat maintainability because the core violations were capable of being examined on admitted material and through the record already available.

Conclusion: The writ petition was maintainable for public law compensation.

Issue (ii): whether the cinema management, the licensing authority, the electricity board and the municipal authority were liable in public law for breach of statutory safety obligations and, if so, what compensation and consequential reliefs should follow.

Analysis: The Court found that the fire originated in the electricity board's transformer and spread because of serious failures in installation, maintenance, protection systems and compliance with electricity safety norms. It further found that the cinema's structural deviations, the closure and narrowing of escape routes, the location and use of the parking area, the inadequate ventilation of the transformer area, and the licensing and municipal approvals all contributed to the tragedy by impeding escape and aggravating smoke spread. The Court applied the principle of absolute liability for hazardous activity and held that the loss was foreseeable in light of the statutory safety framework. It also held that the absence of adequate emergency lighting, public address systems and trained evacuation support worsened the consequences. On compensation, the Court adopted a public law remedial approach and quantified relief for the deceased and injured, while also directing punitive recovery linked to the profits made from unauthorized additional seats.

Conclusion: The cinema owners, the Delhi Vidyut Board, the licensing authority and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi were held jointly and severally liable to compensate the victims, and additional punitive recovery was directed against the cinema owners.

Final Conclusion: The petition succeeded in substance, with the Court granting public law compensation, fixing joint and several liability on the responsible respondents, directing payment of additional punitive sums, and issuing broader safety recommendations to prevent recurrence.

Ratio Decidendi: Where statutory safety obligations for a hazardous public venue are clear and their breach contributes to a foreseeable disaster, the High Court may grant public law compensation under Article 226 on the basis of strict or absolute liability without relegating victims to a civil suit.

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