MADURAI: Noting that the state government had preferred an appeal challenging the order of the single bench of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, which ordered Rs 5 lakh compensation to the family members of a child who died due to a wall collapse at a Sri Lankan refugee camp in Madurai district, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court imposed a cost of Rs 50,000 on the state government.
A division bench of Justices R Subramanian and L Victoria Gowri was hearing the appeal preferred by the state, challenging the order of the single bench. The petitioner, Athipathi, a Sri Lankan refugee submitted that due to a downpour on May 12, 2014, the side wall of the house collapsed and his daughter was killed at the Thiruvathavur refugee camp. Hence, he filed a petition in 2015 seeking compensation. The single bench directed the state to pay Rs 5 lakh as compensation to the girl’s father.
Challenging the same, the state preferred an appeal.
The court said that admittedly, the child died when a poorly constructed and poorly maintained wall in the camp at Thiruvathavur collapsed. “The state government, which paid Rs 10 lakh to dependents of persons who died by consuming illicit liquor, filed this appeal objecting payment of Rs 5 lakh as compensation for the death of a child due to a calamity. This action of the government is unpardonable and inexcusable,” the court stated.