Fire accident resulting in death and injuries, thus joint and several liability of A) private organisers of the event for failure to take adequate safety precautions and vicarious liability of B) State/ state officials for negligence in performance of statutory duties. Where life and personal liberty have been violated, absence of any applicable statutory provision(s) for compensation is of no consequence. Right to life guaranteed under Art. 21 is the most sacred right preserved and protected under the Constitution, violation of which is always actionable and there is no necessity of any statutory provision as such for preserving that right. Thus, a writ petition seeking compensation is maintainable. Furthermore, Art. 21 has to be read into all public safety statutes, since prime object of public safety legislation is to protect individual and to compensate him for loss suffered. Duty of care expected from State or its officials functioning under public safety legislation is very high.
[Sanjay Gupta v. State of U.P., (2022) 7 SCC 203]