Bilaspur. Farmers convicted by the Sessions Court for the death of mechanic while connecting the line for the thresher fought a case for 21 years. The High Court considered the negligence of the deceased as the reason for the death and said that the deceased was an adult and sensitive person. He was not an electrician. Knowing that he would die due to electric shock, he climbed the electric pole himself. Looking at the circumstances, the court acquitted the petitioner farmers.

In fact, petitioner Shamim Khan, resident of Telaidhar police station Sitapur and three others had installed a thresher machine for the wheat crop. In May 2004, they called Shahjahan of the village to connect the line of the machine to the electric pole. He had climbed the electric pole to connect the line, at the same time he got burnt due to electric shock and fell down. The youth was first taken to Sitapur hospital for treatment, from where he died on the way to Raipur due to his critical condition.

After investigation, Sitapur police registered a case under section 304A against the farmers who called the deceased for this work and presented the challan. Ambikapur Judicial Magistrate First Class sentenced the farmers to 6 months imprisonment each and a fine of Rs 400. Against this, the farmers filed an appeal in the Sessions Court. The Sessions Court rejected the appeal in 2010 and confirmed the sentence.

After this, the farmers filed a petition in the High Court. During the hearing of the case, the witness admitted that the deceased was not an electrician, and did mechanical work. The deceased was not pressurized by the accused persons to connect the wire to the thresher machine. He climbed the electric pole knowing that it could have fatal consequences. After hearing the case, the High Court has acquitted the petitioners by giving its verdict.