Probe ordered into eye injury case

CHANDIGARH, Sept 25: Nearly four years after a Class IX student lost his left eye following splinter injuries from a bursting cracker, a ...

CHANDIGARH, Sept 25: Nearly four years after a Class IX student lost his left eye following splinter injuries from a bursting cracker, a city court here has directed the Station House Officer of Police Station South quot;to investigate the matterquot; and submit the report on December 2.

Pronouncing the directions in the open court, Judicial Magistrate Ist Class A.K. Bishnoi observed: quot;It would be in the interest of justice in case the SHO of Police Station South is directed to investigate the matterquot;.

Claiming to have approached a forensic science expert for his opinion on the composition of the quot;cracker in disputequot;, complainant advocate G.S. Bal had earlier stated that the cracker quot;fell under the definition of Explosives Substancesquot; as it contained quot;material which could act as missiles and was dangerous to a human beingquot;.

The report, as reproduced in the complaint, had stated that the quot;mini-missilesquot; could not only quot;destroy eyes, but in some cases could prove far more dangerous even at unbelievable rangesquot;.

Seeking the summoning, trial and deterrent punishment for the cracker producing company, Bal had termed the act of manufacturing and selling the cracker quot;illegalquot;.

He had claimed that the respondent had quot;committed an offence as defined under the provisions of Section 3 and 4 of the Explosives Substances Act, 1908, and Section 9-B and 9-C of the Explosives Act, 1884quot;.

Bal had added that quot;crackers of this qualityquot; should be confiscated during the pendency of the proceedings quot;so that loss of the same nature could be avoided in futurequot;.

Story continues below this ad

Going into the background, he had stated that victim Gagandeep Singh Bal quot;had become permanently handicapped, having lost his left eyequot;.

Gagandeep Singh Bal, he had added, had retreated about 10 to 15 feet after igniting the cracker on October 23, 1995 quot;and was standing with his friends, mother and guardian, when the splinter from the cracker ripped his eyelid and hit the eye ballquot;.

The victim, he had added, was referred to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research by City Hospital in Sector 34 after first aid, as the injury was serious.

He was subsequently operated upon in a Chennai hospital after the doctors at PGI quot;expressed their inability to either cure or treat the eyequot;. The eye was declared as permanently damaged by the doctor at Chennai, he had stated.