The Madras high court on Tuesday granted interim bail to leading city educationalist Jeppiaar arrested on August 9 in connection with the death of 10 migrant workers in a stadium wall collapse at the Jeppiaar Institute of Technology in Kunnam near Sriperumbudur on August 6.
Justice G. M. Akbar Ali granted interim bail to Jeppiaar up to August 30 on the condition that he should execute a bond for Rs 1 lakh with two sureties each for a like sum to the satisfaction of judicial magistrate (JM), Sriperumbudur. shall be admitted to CMC hospital, Vellore, for treatment and shall co-operate with the inquiry or investigation.
The officer-in-charge of Jeppiaar Institute of Technology shall deposit a sum of Rs 2.50 lakh each as ex-gratia amount in the name of each of the family of the legal heirs of victims, who lost their lives, in the court of JM, Sriperumbudur, and also deposit Rs 50,000 each for the injured.
The JM shall deposit the said amount in any one of the nationalised banks for a period of one year, if nobody comes to receive the same and the Sunguvar Chathram police shall inform about the deposited amount to the district welfare officer, Kancheepuram.
It was made clear that the amount payable to the legal heirs of the deceased as well the injured was only a ex-gratia payment and such payment/dispersal was independent of any other claim that may be raised by the member of the bereaved family or injured person under any other law in force.
The amount shall be distributed to families of victims on production of appropriate proof to the satisfaction of JM, Sriperumbudur within one year, the judge added.
Posting to August 30, further hearing of the case, the judge directed the police to file a status report of the investigation in the matter and also their objections with materials.
De-affiliate Jeppiaar institute: Collector
The Kancheepuram district collector, Hanish Chhabra, has recommended to the state government that the Jeppiaar Institute of Technology at Kunnam, near Sunkuvarchathiram, be de-affiliated, following the death of 10 migrant workers there and the arrest of the college chairman, Jeppiaar.
State government sources said that Chhabra had cited lack of qualified technicians and the involvement of unskilled labour in construction work at the college, besides the use of substandard material for construction.
The district administration conducted a detailed probe at the college to ascertain the quality of materials used and the skill set of the labourers.
The officials found that materials used were substandard and the technicians lacked technical knowledge and also that the college had violated the building plan.
Anna University sources said that once the state government orders them to de-affiliate the college, they would do so.