Morbi Bridge Collapse Case: Gujarat HC orders Oreva to pay interim compensation of Rs 10 lakh to kin of each victim

Morbi: The Gujarat High Court today ruled that Oreva Group must pay an interim compensation of Rs10 lakh to each family of 135 victims who died in the Morbi suspension bridge collapse. The court also ordered Oreva to pay Rs 2 lakh to 56 people who were injured in the tragedy. This is in addition to the Rs 10 lakh already paid by the state government.

The Oreva Group had proposed providing compensation of Rs 5 lakh for deaths and Rs 1 lakh for each injured person on Tuesday. However, the court deemed these amounts insufficient.

The bench of Chief Justice Sonia Gokani and Justice Sandeep Bhatt cited previous judgements in cases like the Bhopal Gas Leak and Uphar Cinema tragedies, which established that the ratio of compensation between the state and private parties should be 45% and 55%, respectively. The court noted that since the state government had already paid compensation, Oreva Group must pay 50% of the total compensation, as per the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court. The final amount of compensation will be determined later.

While passing the order, Chief Justice Gokani asked the state and Morbi legal cells to make the respondent (Jaysukh Patel) available for distributing the increased compensation. Half of the funds should be disbursed within two weeks, and the rest within four weeks, she said.
DeshGujarat