CHENNAI: The one-man Commission of Inquiry of Justice K. Venkataraman, appointed by court to determine the compensation to victims of Kumbakonam school fire tragedy in 2004, has fixed Rs five lakh as compensation to each of the parents/legal heirs of the deceased students.
Justice Venkataraman also fixed Rs six lakh as compensation to three students and Rs five lakh to another three students who had sustained grievous injuries and Rs 50,000 to the remaining injured students.
On July 16, 2004, fire broke out in Sri Krishna Aided Primary School and Saraswathi Primary School at Kumbakonam, in which 94 children died and 16 students injured.
The state government announced a compensation of Rs one lakh each to the victims. Aggrieved, one of the parents of the victims approached the Madras high court to enhance the compensation.
Following this, the court on September 16, 2014 appointed Justice Venkataraman, a retired high court judge, as the one-man commission to determine the compensation in respect of the claims made by the affected parties. Justice Venkataraman submitted his report to court on March 31.
