Justice N Anand Venkatesh issued the direction after finding that the Chief Secretary had reject the claim despite recommendations from Collector and Tahsildar, based on the literal words used under the scheme to conclude that the petitioner did not fall within the parameters.

“The petitioner’s son is almost half dead and he is lying in vegetative state, and is being taken care of by his parents. Therefore, this court has to give an expanded meaning for the purpose behind granting compensation from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. The petitioner is very poor and she will not be able to sustain the medical treatment unless the government comes to her rescue,” the judge said, fixing Rs 5 lakh as compensation within six weeks.

However, the court also made it clear that the order should not be taken as a precedent, noting that it cannot exercise writ jurisdiction in cases where there are disputes over facts and cases relating to claim for compensation must be filed only before a civil court.

“We are living in an era where short memory is the order of the day. Virudhunagar is no exception to this norm and every time a huge fire accident takes place in an illegal fire cracker unit, compensation is paid to the deceased and injured, and thereafter everybody forgets it,” Justice Anand Venkatesh added.

The petitioner Jeyamani submitted that on November 9, 2018, her son Pandithurai (12) stepped on fire crackers allegedly strewn by two illegal units and sustained over 50 per burns.