New Delhi, January 23
The Supreme Court today ordered the DAV managing committee to pay its share in the Rs 55-crore compensation awarded to the victims of the fire tragedy at a school function at Dabwali on December 23, 1995. As many as 456 persons, including more than 250 women and 130 students, were killed in the tragedy.
A Bench of Justices BS Chauhan and V Gopala Gowda dismissed DAV’s appeal challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court verdict. The HC had directed DAV and Rajiv Marriage Palace, a banquet hall where the school was holding its annual function, to share 55 per cent of the total compensation of about Rs 55 crore.
The HC had directed the Haryana Government, Dabwali Municipal Committee and the state electricity board to pay the remaining 45 per cent compensation in the ratio of 15 per cent each. This has already been complied with.
After hearing the appeal, the SC had, on March 15, 2010, directed the DAV managing committee to pay Rs 10 crore as interim compensation.
During the arguments, the DAV managing committee did not insist on setting aside the HC verdict. It restricted itself to contending that the share of 55 per cent slapped on it and the marriage place was quite high. It also sought apportionment of the liability among the DAV managing committee and the marriage place as the high court had failed to do it.
In today’s verdict, the SC said the HC had already reduced the liability of the DAV managing committee and the marriage place from 80 to 55 per cent. It also noted that the owners of the now defunct marriage place were not in a position to pay any significant amount as compensation.
