The Court took a serious exception to the police’s submissions and said that its arguments reeked of “laziness and indifference.”
It further said that the Sivakasi Municipality was also under the statutory obligation to take precautions against fire and related accidents.
However, such duty was not confined to the local body alone, but it vested with the government as well, the Court said.
“From the aforesaid provisions, one can easily conclude that the State is under a statutory obligation to ensure that hazardous substances are handled in such a manner that the general safety of the public is not endangered. This would include the duty to ensure that hazardous wastes are dealt with in a manner as prescribed by the Rules. In the case on hand, these Rules have been brazenly breached. While the private persons are obviously the violators, the duty to ensure that there is no breach of the Rules is on the State. These are matters in which the principle of absolute liability has to be applied. The authorities have miserably failed to monitor the manner of disposal. The negligence on the part of the authorities is responsible for the occurrence,” the High Court said.
It went on to note that the accident had caused both physical and psychological trauma to the children. Their friendships and studies had suffered, and even their “marital prospects” had become “a serious question mark,” the court said.
Justice Swaminathan, therefore, directed the TN government to deposit within four weeks, the compensation amount of ₹10 lakh each in fixed deposits in a nationalised bank, and permitted the victims to withdraw such money after five years.
The Court also said that if the boys ever wished to undergo plastic surgery, then they must be treated on a preferential basis in a government hospital having such facility.
Source: Barandbench
