Rs 10 Lakh Compensation For Kallakurichi Hooch Tragedy Victims Too High, May Encourage Others: Madras High Court To State
The Madras High Court on Friday asked the State government to reconsider its decision to pay a compensation of Rs. 10 Lakh to families of victims who lost their lives in the Kallakurichi Hooch Tragedy.
The bench of Acting Chief Justice R Mahadevan and Justice Mohammed Shaffiq opined that the amount was too high. The court also commented that the families should not be encouraged in cases of such nature. The court thus asked the State Government to reconsider the decision and find other mechanisms.
“Why should the family be encouraged. You're paying Rs 10 Lakh. That is encouragement. If a person dies of an accident, you can give compensation. But not in this case. 10 Lakh is too much. Youn need to sit with the secretaries and figure out another mechanism,” the Court told the State.
The court was hearing a petition filed by Mohamed Ghouse, Secretary of the Welfare Party. In his petition, Ghouse had stated that the State Government need not take pity on those who have consumed the illicit liquor, and thereby committed an illegal act and consequently succumbed to the said illicit act.
Ghouse added that the State government had decided to pay Rs 10 Lakh to the families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to those who were being treated. He submitted that the solatium should be given only to victims of accident and not to those who have committed an illegal act for attaining self-pleasure.
He further submitted that the order of compensation was unreasonable and arbitrary. He added that the State had not justified on what basis it was granting a lesser solatium to fire accident victims or any other accident victims and at the same time granting a huge amount to hooch tragedy victims.
He said that the consumers of illicit liquor were not freedom fighters or social activists who have lost their lives for the cause of general public or the sake of the society. Thus, he urged that the consumers of the illicit liquor must be denied compensation and they must not be treated as victims.
When the matter was taken up on Friday, the State requested the court to tag the petition along with other petitions seeking a CBI inquiry into the hooch tragedy. The court however denied this request noting that the prayer in the petition was different from those filed earlier.
The matter is now listed after two weeks.
Case Title: Mohamed Ghouse v The Chief Secretary and Others
Case No: WP 17851 of 2024