Chief Justice Navindra Singh today dismissed a number of applications that were filed by Attorney General Anil Nandlall to strike out lawsuits brought by relatives of the children who died in the Mahdia School Dorm fire.

The Attorney General wanted the Court to block the Fixed Date Applications on the grounds that there was already a settlement, but the Acting Chief Justice has ruled against him, allowing the cases to move forward.

The administrators of 13 of the victims, who are being represented by Attorney-at-Law Daren Wade, are seeking compensation based on Constitutional damages and damages based on negligence.  

The administrators contend that the Constitutional rights of their children who were killed in the 2023 fire, were breached, and that the State was negligent in its action.

Though admitting that agreements were signed, the administrators now question the circumstances under which those agreements were reached.

But the Attorney General, in his bid to strike out the applications, argued that the families had reached an agreement with the State on the matter and were compensated to the tune of $5M each.

The Chief Justice, in handing down his decision, said the issues raised were too important to dismiss.

“I believe we now have a mixed bag of substantial questions of law and fact,” the Chief Justice said.

He said a number of critical issues must be addressed, including the issue of the signatories to the agreements signed with the State and whether those persons who entered into those agreements had the capacity to do so on behalf of the estates of the children.

He said it is not just an issue of claims on the basis of negligence but it gives rise to constitutional issues, and whether the settlements reached were cable of settling the constitutional claims.

It was against that background that the Chief Justice took a decision to dismiss the applications brought by the Attorney General.

However, he was keen on noting that his refusal is not an indication that the agreement signed between the State and the families means nothing. He said it still provides the government with substantive defence.

 The Court consequently converted the proceedings into Statements of Claim and established timelines for the filing of the relevant documents

The Administration, in their applications, asked the Court to declare that the State breached its duty of care and its actions and omissions in relation to the injuries sustained by the deceased constituted a breach of their fundamental rights under the Constitution.

They are also asking the Court to declare that the conditions under which the girls were housed amounted to torture and were not only inhumane but a violation of their human rights, and that their deaths were as a result of negligence on the part of the State.

They are now seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation.

A total of 20 children were killed in the deadly blaze.

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