HC orders compensation to kin of 32 people killed in 2009 Diwali fire accident

Chennai: TIMES NEWS NETWORK





Eight years after a Diwaali-eve blast left 32 people dead at Pallipattu in Thiruvallur district, Madras high court has ordered compensation ranging from `6.5 lakh to `17 lakh to the victims' families.Holding that the shop owner as well as the government had equally contributed to the tragedy , due to their negligence, the court said both should share the total compensation burden equally .

 

“Neither the government machinery , nor the owner of the shop, can escape the re sponsibility of providing secured atmosphere to the public to transact their business, as the commodity being sold in the shop is highly inflammable and vulnerable for any such untoward incident,“ said Justice R Suresh Kumar, passing orders on a batch of writ pleas moved by families of the victims.

The government argued that it was not liable to pay any compensation, as and that the shop owner alone should be made entirely liable for the accident for running the business without proper license and safety measures. The shop owner, on his part, argued that the accident occurred only due to the negligence of the customers who carried inflammable objects inside the cracker shop.

Rejecting both the submissions, Justice Suresh Kumar said both were equally negligent and hence the liability to pay compensation, certainly , would not lie on the shoulders of the state administration alone, as the shop keeper must also shoulder 50% of the compensation for running the shop illegally.

The actual compensation sought by the petitioners was `25 lakh each for the 32 families, but the court granted compensation ranging from `6.5 to `17 lakh adopting multiplier method. It will carry 6% annual interest from the date of filing of the petitions, and the compensation should be paid directly to the petitioners within three months.