The District and Sessions Court in Thanjavur convicted 10 accused in Kumbakonam school fire case.
Of the 21 accused, 11 have been acquitted.
The accused have been convicted under IPC Section 304 - II, 338 and other sections.
The ten convicted include the prime accused and school founder Palanisamy, his wife Saraswathi, adopted daughter Santhalakshmi and four education department officials
In the past 10 years, the case moved from one court to another. It was
committed to the Thanjavur District and Sessions Court by the Kumbakonam
Judicial Magistrate court where the final report was filed in June
2005. Subsequently, the case was transferred to the Fast Track Court at
Thanjavur, and from there to the Essential Commodities Court. As there
was no progress, it was re-transferred to the District and Sessions
Court in 2009 when the government appointed a special public prosecutor.
It gather pace after charges were framed against all 21 accused on
September 10, 2012, with the trial starting a fortnight later.
The witnesses were examined on a day-to-day basis. The prosecution
submitted documents and statements of witnesses running to thousands of
pages.
Prabhakaran, headmaster of the Sri Krishna Girls High School, turned
approver and was the first prosecution witness to be examined.
Among the accused include the school correspondent, ‘Pulavar’
Palanisamy; his wife Saraswathi; adopted daughter Santhalakshmi; the
then Municipal Commissioner, Sathyamurthy; the then Town Planning
Officer, K. Murugan; three school teachers; and a of Education
Department officials.
The State government withdrew the case against C. Palanisamy, the then
Chief Educational Officer, Thanjavur; S. Paramasivam, the then
Kumbakonam Tahsildar; and A. Kannan, the then Director of Elementary
Education.
After lengthy arguments and examination of 230 prosecution witnesses,
including the parents, and the students who survived the fire, the
verdict is now eagerly awaited by all.
Note
The fire that broke out on July 16, 2004 in the noon meal centre of Sri
Krishna Middle School ran to the first floor with a thatched roof where
200 students were housed.
Sri Krishna Aided Private School, Saraswathi Nursery and Primary School
and the Sri Krishna Girls High School functioned in the same building.
The incident shook the conscience of the State and raised serious questions about safety in schools.
No comments:
Post a Comment