SC orders teacher to pay solatium to student

The Supreme Court today ruled that a 15-year-old student of Puhulwella Central College in Matara has been assaulted and deprived of his hearing by violating his fundamental rights.

The SC ordered Jayantha Premakumara Siriwardena, a teacher-in-charge of the school discipline affairs to pay a fine of Rs. 150,000 as compensation to the aggrieved student.

In addition, the Court also ordered the government to pay a compensation of Rs. 500,000 to the student for violating his fundamental rights.

The court ruled that the student's hearing loss was a serious violation of fundamental rights.

The petition was filed in the Supreme Court on February 13, 2017 alleging that the respondent (teacher) had assaulted the student and as a result, the student had completely lost his hearing and that the fundamental rights of the student had been violated.(Yoshitha Perera)