Yesterday's leader page article on the need for a mass tort law in India by Rajeev Dhavan is essential reading, especially in the context of the Kumbakonam school disaster. Before this gruesome tragedy is relegated to 'vague memory'. According to the article: “Indian legal system has no special mechanism to deal with a `mass tort'.” Obviously this is another flaw in our legal system that needs urgent correction. According to Dhavan: “[T]he Legislature has been silent, the Judiciary has tried to deal with mass tort cases innovatively,” which is heartening. I will enummerate the instances that Dhavan uses to bolster his case in this article. It is useful reference material:
1984 Bhopal disaster: attempts made to confront disasters with moral and remedial rigour
1987: In the Oleum Gas Case, Justice P.N. Bhagwati states that the owner and occupier are absolutely liable for disasters emanating from their premises.
February 14, 1989: Government's compromise with Union Carbide.
In TISCO fire incident the Tatas admitted liability. Former Chief Justice of India, Y.V. Chandrachud assesses the damage and determines the sum payable. SC judgment on August 16, 2001, paves way for compensation to be paid. Dhavan says that this case lead ensured: “Instead of going through a tortuous civil trial, the court permitted the case to be decided through a writ petition which is much quicker, more effective and relatively more immediate remedy.”
1991: the Public Liability Insurance Act mandated insurance in cases where hazardous substances were involved. In the Bhopal Case (1991) some judges felt that Justice Bhagwati interpretation was an overstatement.
1996: Justice Jeevan Reddy tried to restore what Justice Bhagwati in the Indian Council for Enviro-Legal Action Case concerning hazardous wastes.
June 13, 1997: in the Delhi Uphaar theatre fire case:”Justice S.N. Variava refused to go back to the old remedy of a civil suit and decided that a writ petition was appropriate to devise a fast track procedure.”
2001: In the Grewal Case, in which students from Punjab died on a school trip, the SC “blessed the more effective procedure followed by the High Court and increased the compensation”.
2002: the Delhi High Court in the Uphaar Case tried to advance the law further
April 24, 2003: Justices S.K. Mahajan and Mukund Mudgal of the Delhi High court “delivered a significant judgment requiring not just the owner but also the statutory authorities to pay compensation at levels much higher than those in the Tata or the Punjab schoolboys case.”
July 20, 2004: the Supreme Court ordered that Rs. 1505.46 crores be distributed to the victims of the Bhopal Gas tragedy.

Some useful links:
Tort Law in India from the Annual Survey of Indian Law, 2001.
Common law - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia