The Supreme Court on Friday set a deadline of six months for completing the trial in Tamil Nadu’s Kumbakonam school fire tragedy case related to the death of 94 children.

Expressing concern over the long delay caused due to the legal wrangle on completing the trial proceedings in the 2004 tragedy, a bench of justices P. Sathasivam and Ranjan Gogoi, in an order, directed the prosecution and sessions judge to expedite the trial.

“This matter relates to the incident of July 16, 2004, wherein 94 children were burnt to death and 18 seriously injured due to the negligence of the school administration and the authorities but the fact that the trial is still in progress, hence, we direct the principal sessions judge, Thanjavur, to dispose the case within a period of six months,” the order said.

The Supreme Court on Friday set a deadline of six months for completing the trial in Tamil Nadu’s Kumbakonam school fire tragedy case while dismissing a special leave petition of Mr K. Balakrishnan, an official of the state education department, for discharge from the case on the ground that the entire incident had taken place due to the negligence of the school management.

He was made an accused for allegedly not performing his duty of inspecting the school infrastructure properly.

The fire reportedly had started in the kitchen, where the midday meal was being prepared, and it soon engulfed the entire structure of Saraswati school.

There were around 900 children in the complex, which also housed a primary school and a senior secondary school. The high death toll – 94 children—was mainly because the nursery children could not save themselves whereas the students of higher classes escaped before their portion of the building caught fire, SC was informed.

A bench of justices P. Sathasivam and Ranjan Gogoi, expressing concern over the delay in completing the trial proceedings in the 2004 tragedy, directed the prosecution and principal sessions judge, Thanjavur, to expedite the trial.

SC diktat on school fire tragedy welcomed

It is almost a re-birth for 13-year-old Aishwarya. She is among the few survivors of the fire tragedy that occurred on July 16, 2004 in Sri Krishna Elementary School at Kumbakonam, when she was 5 years old and was studying in class one.

Aishwarya, now in class 8 in a private school, recalls, “It was chaos everywhere. We, the students, were sitting huddled together in our classroom and crying. I luckily escaped with severe burns.”
“I lost my friends and classmates. It still remains a scar in my heart,” said Aishwarya with anguish, and wants the court to punish all the accused.

Welcoming the Supreme Court’s direction to the district and sessions court to complete the trial of the school fire tragedy case in six months, Aishwarya said: “The souls of those 94 kids who perished in the fire will rest in peace only when everyone responsible for the tragedy is punished.”

Ms Christie, 42, of Amirtha Nagar, who lost her two sons Anandaraj, 10, and Praveenraj,8, studying in classes 5 and 3, in the mishap, said she welcomed the time-frame laid down by the Supreme Court.

“Those responsible for the tragedy should be severely punished. “The verdict should act as a deterrent to greedy managements,” said Ms Christie.

On July 16, 2004, the Kumbakonam government hospital saw frantic parents praying fervently, recalls her husband N. Inbaraj.

Cases were registered against 24 persons, including Pulavar Palanisamy, the correspondent of the school, and education department officials.

Though the police filed the chargesheet in 2007, the trial is still pending in the district and sessions court in Thanjavur.

Much to the shock and dismay of the victims’ family and relatives, the then director of school education A. Kannan, the then district education officer M. Palanisamy, and the then tahsildar S. Paramasivam were discharged from the case in 2010.

The revision petition of 17 other accused in the Madras high court, to discharge them from the case, was dismissed on July 13, 2012.

On behalf of the victims’ parents, Mr Inbaraj appealed to the state to set up a special court to expeditiously conduct the trial.

“After all, justice delayed is justice denied,” Mr Inbaraj added ruefully.