The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court has taken serious note of non-compliance by several schools in a case related to student transport safety. As many as 93 schools in the city have failed to submit affidavits despite directions from the court. Hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on the safety of students travelling in school buses and vans, a bench of Justice Anil Kilore and Justice Raj Wakode directed the Deputy Director of Education and Regional Transport Office (RTO) to issue notices to the defaulting schools.

 

The court also ordered that a public notice be published in newspapers so that all concerned institutions are informed. The court has further instructed all schools to submit reports of their School Transport Committee by April 8. Out of 131 schools named in the petition, only 38 have filed affidavits so far. However, the court observed that, many of these affidavits lacked complete details as required. The remaining 93 schools have not filed any affidavits, which prompted the court to direct the authorities to serve notices to them.

 

During the previous hearing, the RTO informed the court that there are 3,690 school transport vehicles operating in Nagpur city, including rural and eastern areas. This includes 541 buses and vans owned by schools and 3,149 vehicles operated by private contractors. The High Court had earlier asked all schools to submit a detailed list of their transport vehicles and records of meetings held by their School Transport Committee over the past two years. Stressing that student safety is of utmost importance, the court expressed concern over the lack of seriousness shown by many schools. Advocate Firdos Mirza, assisted by Advocate Isha Thakre, appeared for the petitioners, while Advocate Deepak Thakare represented the Government.