After a legal battle for more than a decade, it will be judgment day on Wednesday in the July 2004 Kumbakonam school fire that killed 94 students.
The prolonged wait of the parents of the victims for justice is expected to end when the verdict is delivered by the Thanjavur District and Sessions Court.
The fire that broke out on July 16, 2004 in the noon meal centre of Sri Krishna Middle School ran to the first floor with a thatched roof where 200 students were housed.
Sri Krishna Aided Private School, Saraswathi Nursery and Primary School and the Sri Krishna Girls High School functioned in the same building.
The incident shook the conscience of the State and raised serious questions about safety in schools.
In the past 10 years, the case moved from one court to another. It was committed to the Thanjavur District and Sessions Court by the Kumbakonam Judicial Magistrate court where the final report was filed in June 2005. Subsequently, the case was transferred to the Fast Track Court at Thanjavur, and from there to the Essential Commodities Court. As there was no progress, it was re-transferred to the District and Sessions Court in 2009 when the government appointed a special public prosecutor.
It gather pace after charges were framed against all 21 accused on September 10, 2012, with the trial starting a fortnight later.
The witnesses were examined on a day-to-day basis. The prosecution submitted documents and statements of witnesses running to thousands of pages.
Prabhakaran, headmaster of the Sri Krishna Girls High School, turned approver and was the first prosecution witness to be examined.
Among the accused include the school correspondent, ‘Pulavar’ Palanisamy; his wife Saraswathi; adopted daughter Santhalakshmi; the then Municipal Commissioner, Sathyamurthy; the then Town Planning Officer, K. Murugan; three school teachers; and a of Education Department officials.
The State government withdrew the case against C. Palanisamy, the then Chief Educational Officer, Thanjavur; S. Paramasivam, the then Kumbakonam Tahsildar; and A. Kannan, the then Director of Elementary Education.
After lengthy arguments and examination of 230 prosecution witnesses, including the parents, and the students who survived the fire, the verdict is now eagerly awaited by all.
