Tamil Nadu - Madurai   

Bench asks school to pay relief

MADURAI: The Madras High Court Bench here on Friday directed the Correspondent and Headmistress of a Government-aided school at Tirunelveli to pay Rs.1.5 lakh to the parents of a 13-year-old boy who died in 2004 after he fell into a well while fetching water to cook food for the noon meal scheme.

Disposing of a writ petition filed by the student’s father, Justice M. Sathyanarayanan directed the school authorities to pay the amount jointly and severally along with interest from March 1, 2004.

The petitioner was asked to approach the civil court concerned if he wanted enhanced compensation.

S. Esakimuthu of Chidambarapuram in Sankarankovil taluk of Tirunelveli district said that his son E. Marimuthu was studying in Standard VIII at R.C. Middle School in the locality.

He fell into the dilapidated well on the school campus while fetching water along with another student as per the instructions of their Headmistress.

The petitioner also claimed that it was the regular practice in the school to force students studying in Standards VI to VIII to fetch water from the 45 feet deep well and clean the school campus including the playground on a daily basis.

The students were divided into various groups and assigned such work.

Immediately after his son’s death, the Kuruvikulam police had registered a case of suspicious death and later altered it to Section 304A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code. After trial, a sessions court convicted the Headmistress on August 27, 2007 and sentenced her to one year simple imprisonment.

Pending trial, “the Correspondent and Secretary came forward to settle the dispute amicably and undertook to pay Rs. 5 lakh as compensation besides providing employment to one of my family members so as to drop all further proceedings in the above incident. Believing their words, I waited for a long period,” the petitioner said.

The present writ petition, seeking a compensation for Rs.5 lakh, was filed only after repeated requests made to the school management fell into deaf ears.

The management had denied their liability and said that the Panchayat Union Commissioner, responsible for implementation of noon meal scheme, was the competent authority.

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