The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday hoped that a positive step would be taken with regard to providing compensation to family members of the employees of Rajammal Fireworks in Virudhunagar district who lost their lives in the 2020-fire on the unit premises.
Justice C.V. Karthikeyan was told that Virudhunagar Collector had already sent a proposal to the State government with regard to the quantum of compensation. Taking note of the submission, the judge adjourned the hearing till January 2022. The court was hearing a batch of petitions filed by family members of the employees.
In their separate petitions, they said that the State government had announced an interim compensation of ₹1 lakh for each victim and the Collector had also assured that the State government would provide a compensation of ₹10 lakh and employment to one family member. But no relief had been granted to the family members yet. They said that since the State had allowed the unit to function without a proper licence and permission, the authorities were vicariously liable to pay adequate compensation. The authorities had failed to properly monitor the cracker units in the region, they said.
