KARACHI, April 25: A division bench of the Sindh High Court granted compensation to the parents of a two-year-old son for his death by negligence of the Defence Housing Authority.

Plaintiff Lt-Col Akram Abbasi and his wife submitted that they lived in a flat in the Seaview Apartments and their minor son fell down and died into a pit/tank dug up to store water during the construction of the project.

The defendant DHA, which should have leveled the water pits/tanks after the completion of the project, was liable to compensate them for the shock and loss of potential support in old age. They sought damages amounting to Rs2.5 million.

The DHA said the depth of the pit was not more than nine inches, which posed no threat to human life.

The pit was at a safe distance of about 150 feet from the plaintiffs’ apartment and it could not be held responsible for the child’s movement and fall into the pit. The parents were guilty at least of contributory negligence, the DHA said.

A single judge dismissed the suit holding that damages under the Fatal Accidents Act could not be awarded for mental shock and possible loss alone and the plaintiffs moved an intra-court appeal through Advocate Nasir Maqsood.

The appellate bench, which consisted of Justices Amir Hani Muslim and Yasmin Abbasy, said the single judge had held the respondent DHA responsible for the incident and the only question requiring determination was entitlement to and quantum of damages.

The amount of damages, the bench said, was to be based on life expectancy. The child would in normal course have started earning at least Rs5,000 at the age of 18.

The deceased could have been expected to support his parents for 20 years and the loss suffered by the parents at the rate of Rs60,000 per year turns out to be Rs 1.2 million.

After adding the markup and deducting personal expenses, the net pecuniary loss suffered by the appellants amounted to Rs864,000.

Allowing the appeal, the bench decreed the amount with markup at the rate of 10 per cent per annum.