6 yrs after child’s death in cylinder blast,Bharat Petroleum fined Rs 4 lakh

While all guests at the party escaped unhurt,Kailash was left behind in the room. The house in Sagarpur area had just one exit and no ventilation. According to the complaint filed by Ashok Kumar,Kailash’s father,the fire brigade was called in,but reached after almost half-an-hour,and by then nothing could be done to rescue the child.

Six years later,the State Consumer Commission has finally taken to task the manufacturer of the LPG cylinder,Bharat Petroleum,for the defect in the cylinder’s regulator. Commission President Justice J D Kapoor slapped a fine of Rs four lakh on the oil company for “manufacturing a defective product”.

Taking a stern note of the “negligence” on part of the manufacturer,the commission observed that the nature of the fire and the insurance company’s survey report in the case cited enough reasons to conclude that there was a manufacturing defect in the regulator or the cylinder supplied by the distributor.

“The nature of the blast that gutted the entire house leads to the interpretation that the cylinder was defective,” said the commission,rejecting Bharat Petroleum’s argument that the accident might have occurred as a result of the consumer’s negligence.

The oil company had claimed that since the cylinder had been in use for a few days before the accident occurred,there could have been no manufacturing defect.

“Merely because the cylinder was in use for a few days does not mean that the product was not defective or that the defect could not have developed later,” said Justice Kapoor in his order.

“If there was no defect,what was the cause of the blast? There could be no reason other than the fact that there was a manufacturing defect in the cylinder,” he added,while dismissing the defence plea.

Justice Kapoor also made caustic observations about the “insensitivity” of those responsible for the tragedy,after Bharat Petroleum tried to shift the blame onto a dealer,one Engineering Enterprises,saying the dealer should have checked the cylinder before delivering it.

The gas dealer,on his part,claimed that the cylinder had been duly checked at the time of delivery.

They further claimed the police had given them a clean chit in the investigation that followed the incident.

Justice Kapoor absolved the gas dealer in the case and said,“Even if there are instructions for consumers to follow,the manufacturer of certain articles have the ultimate responsibility and duty to see that goods supplied by it are free from any such defect,” he ruled.

Bharat Petroleum is now liable to pay the compensation amount to Kailash’s parents within a period of two months from the order. Officials of the company remained unavailable for comment.