Education Once Considered Holy Now Become Lucrative Business: Madras High Court Orders Transfer Of Probe To "Sincere" Officer Into UKG Student’s Death

The Court expressed serious concerns regarding the transparency of the current investigation. It remarked that in the current system, poor victims rarely receive justice, and therefore, an independent and rigorous investigation is necessary to restore public confidence. By ordering the transfer, the Court aimed to address specific grievances regarding the failure to secure immediate evidence and the suspected shielding of influential parties.

Justice B. Pugalendhi observed, “…Goddess Saraswati is considered to be a symbol of Education and imparting education was considered to be holy for sometime in this country. Nowadays, it has become a lucrative business. The school management in which the petitioner's daughter was studying is also running a multispeciality hospital opposite to the school. Admittedly, the petitioner's daughter died in the school campus…”.

Advocate S. Parthiban for the petitioner and B. Thanga Aravindh, Government Advocate appeared for the respondents.

The facts of the case concern the tragic death of a five-year-old UKG student who was found dead inside her private school campus in Tenkasi on March 24, 2026. The school management claimed the child was hit by a rashly driven private car entering the premises to meet the Correspondent’s son.

However, the petitioner, the child’s father, alleged several discrepancies, notably that the child had not consumed her lunch, suggesting the incident might have occurred during lunch hours rather than at 3:55 p.m. as claimed. The Court further noted that the school management also operates a multi-specialty hospital located directly opposite the school.

The petitioner moved the High Court under Section 528 BNSS seeking a transfer of the investigation to the CB-CID. He alleged that despite the presence of 20 police personnel at the school before the parents arrived, the FIR was registered belatedly at 10:20 p.m.. He further claimed the school management attempted to suppress the matter with a compensation offer of Rs. 20 lakh and failed to produce CCTV footage from either the school or the adjacent hospital.

The Bench expressed "reasonable doubt" regarding the conduct of the local police, noting their failure to immediately seize the vehicle or identify the accused despite the availability of CCTV cameras and a guarded gate. The Court observed that it was highly unbelievable that the accused were allowed to escape from a compounded campus after such a grave occurrence.

“…this court is also having a reasonable doubt that the respondent police has not acted in a proper manner as expected from them. Normally, in this system poor victims rarely get justice. Considering the manner in which the FIR has been registered belatedly, without specifying the name of the accused and without securing the accused and also considering the fact that the vehicle involved was not immediately seized by the respondent police, this court is of the view that this is a fit case for transfer of investigation…”, the Bench noted.

The Court directed the Superintendent of Police, Tenkasi, to entrust the probe to a new, sincere officer. The new Investigating Officer must furnish the petitioner with copies of the recovered CCTV footage and the postmortem certificate. Furthermore, the officer was mandated to ascertain the exact time of occurrence by examining school staff, students, and the watchman to verify if the incident took place during lunch hours.

Cause Title: V. Marisamy v. The Superintendent of Police, Tirunelveli and Others Crl.O.P. (MD)No.7378 of 2026

Appearances:

Petitioner: S. Parthiban, Advocate.

Respondents: B. Thanga Aravindh, Government Advocate.

Click here to read/download the Order