The Madras High Court Bench here on Monday directed a private school in Tirunelveli district to pay a compensation of Rs.7 lakh to a minor girl who lost her vision in the right eye owing to splinter injuries when a Lower Kindergarten (LKG) teacher caned her on March 1, 2012.
Allowing a writ petition filed by the minor girl, K. Priyadarshini, represented by her mother K. Venkateswari, Justice K.K. Sasidharan directed the management of Rathish English Matriculation School at Parappadi in Nanguneri taluk to pay the compensation along with 12 per cent interest.
Agreeing with petitioner’s counsel I. Robert Chandrakumar that the then District Elementary Educational Officer C. Padmavathy had attempted to save the school from being penalised, the judge imposed a cost of Rs.1 lakh on the officer and ordered that this amount should also be paid to the victim girl.
The judge directed the State government to pay the cost of Rs.1 lakh and then recover it from the salary of Ms. Padmavathy if she was in service or from her pension if she had retired.
The officer had “made a deliberate attempt to mislead the court by filing a false affidavit,” the judge said.
Mr. Justice Sasidharan also recorded his “deep appreciation” for Superintendent of Police Vijayendra S. Bidari, then serving in Tirunelveli district, “for coming out with a true version of the incident,” and directed the High Court Registry to mark a copy of his order to the police officer presently working here.
The judge pointed out that the petitioner was the second of the three daughters of a lorry driver. She had lost her vision completely in the right eye despite efforts put in by doctors to remove the splinters.
However, the school claimed that the girl got hurt accidentally and hence it was not liable to pay compensation.
The DEEO also supported the management and urged the court to dismiss the writ petition on the ground of maintainability.
But Mr. Bidari “very honestly narrated the actual event on the basis of materials collected during investigation… and revealed that the minor was beaten by a stick,” the judge added.
