Madras High Court directs state govt to file affidavit

Madras High Court today directed the state government to file an affidavit with the action it has taken against erring officials in the death of a four-year-old girl who fell into a 300-ft borewell near Arani in Tiruvanamalai district in September last.
After hearing the counter petitions filed by the state and the Centre, the bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Satish K Agnihotri and Justice M M Sundresh passed the order and posted the hearing after two weeks.
The counter pleas were filed after G Sivagami moved the court to regulate management of erection of borewells and management of abandoned wells, tube wells and wells besides seeking Rs 10 lakh compensation for the parents of the girl.

This comes after the state submitted that the DGP has conveyed the Supreme Court guidelines on measures for prevention of fatal accidents involving children falling into abandoned wells to all district level police officials besides directing them to take deterrent action against the agencies concerned which fail to follow the safety guidelines.
The state government has also submitted that Additional Chief Secretary of Revenue Administration has instructed district collectors to instruct village administrative officers and heads of local bodies to have a survey of the number of borewells in their jurisdiction and to immediately seal the open bore wells by formulating a plan of action on war-footing.