Taking note of death of two children after they fell in tanks on their school campus recently, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued notices to the Aam Aadmi Party government, South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) and the authorities of the two schools on a public interest writ petition moved by an AAP MLA.
A Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath, observed during preliminary hearing on the PIL that these were “very unfortunate incidents” and the matter required consideration. The court asked the respondents to file their replies by February 9.
The Bench also asked the Delhi government's Directorate of Education, SDMC, Commissioner of Police and both the schools – Ryan International School in Vasant Kunj and the SDMC-run school in Kapashera – to file their status reports and spell out the action they proposed to take to prevent such incidents in future.
The PIL, filed by Col. (Retd.) Devinder Sehrawat, MLA from Bijwasan constituency, sought judicial inquiry into the children's death as well as directions for disaster management assessment of all the schools in the Capital.
The SDMC counsel told the court the Kapashera school's principal was suspended shortly after the incident. While five-year-old Ankit died in the SDMC-run school after he fell into an open septic tank on January 27, six-year-old Divyansh lost his life after falling in a tank in Ryan School on January 30.
