Passing his orders on a petition by the deceased's wife, Justice K Ravichandrababu ruled that the live wire was hanging at a level lower than the specified height and asked the electricity department to pay the compensation within six weeks.
Elumalai of Jalakanteswarapuram was electrocuted after he came into contact with a 110KVA live wire in Mettur of Salem district.
Elumalai's wife Pappa claimed a compensation of Rs 5 lakh on the grounds that the wire was hanging at a height of 5ft whereas the norm was for it to be at an elevation of 20ft.
Elumalai was holding a 3ft tall corncob which had come into contact with the live wire, resulting in him getting electrocuted.
Going through the rules, the court found that a 110KVA wire should normally be at a height of 20ft but was required to be raised by a further 3ft when passing along road sides.
The judge said that even as per the submission of the electricity department, there should have been a gap of at least 12ft after taking into account the average height of a man (about 5-6ft), the elevation of the land and the length of the corncob.