Safety of school children: Supreme Court to hear plea on September 15

The Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to hear on September 15 a plea filed by two women lawyers seeking implementation of existing guidelines to ensure safety and well-being of children in schools across the country.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices Amitava Roy and AM Khanwilkar said it has already issued notice on a similar plea filed by the father of the child, who was brutally murdered at Gurgaon’s Ryan International School.

“We will tag it (writ petition) with the earlier one,” the bench said and fixed the PIL, filed by two practising apex court lawyers Abha Sharma and Sangeeta Bharti, for hearing on Friday.

The lawyers, in their petition, sought implementation of various existing guidelines on safety of school-going children.

They also suggested some additional guidelines to ensure that the responsibility is fastened on the schools with regard to safety of children from the moment they get into the school bus/vehicle.

On Monday, the court issued notice to the Centre, Haryana Police, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the CBI on a plea filed by the father of the child seeking a CBI probe into the matter.

A Class 2 student of Ryan International School in Gurgaon was found dead on the morning of September 8 after his throat was slit with a sharp-edged weapon allegedly by 42-year-old bus conductor Ashok Kumar inside the toilet as the boy resisted a bid to sodomise him.

The father’s plea sought setting up of a committee headed by a former apex court judge for suggesting guidelines to be framed and implemented under the observance of the top court.

It sought a “free, fair, independent and fearless investigation including an enquiry and investigation by the CBI” under the supervision of the court.

The plea also sought a direction for ensuring safety and security of family members of the deceased boy.