After eight years of litigations and counter-litigations in various courts, the trial in the Kumbakonam school fire tragedy case would finally begin on September 24. On Monday, the District Court handling the case framed charges against the 21 accused in the case.
On Friday, two of the 21 accused were absent when the charges were to be framed. Judge G Saravanan warned the two accused and asked them to be present on Monday, before adjourning the session.
On 17 July, 2004, as many as 94 children were charred to death when the noon meal centre in the Sri Krishna government-aided school caught fire. The school had several violations pertaining to student intake and building rules. Besides, the Saraswathy primary school, the Sri Krishna aided school and the Sri Krishna Girls High school were all functioning from the same premises without proper permission.
Earlier, the government had constituted a single member committee to investigate the tragedy after the Supreme Court directed both the State and the Union Government to conduct a probe.
The police registered cases against 24 people, including the school founder, the correspondent, the principal, the secretary, teachers, the noon meal assistant, the Chief Education Officer, the District Education Officer, the Primary Education Officer, the RDO and municipality officials. However, three persons - the then Kumbakonam RDO Paramasivam, CEO Palanisamy and primary education officer Kannan - appealed against the charges in the Madras HC which later relieved the officials in 2010.
Meanwhile, on July 13, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court dismissed the discharge petition filed by 17 of the accused, bringing relief among the parents of the fire tragedy victims. The Supreme Court on August 3, 2012, ordered the Thanjavur District Court to complete the trial and declare a verdict within six months. On September 24, 2012, accused would present their arguments against the charges framed, said sources.
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