Two Women Lawyers Move SC Over Safety Of School Children

Spurred by the murder of a seven year old boy in Gurugram’s Ryan International School, two women lawyers moved the Supreme Court seeking framing of non- negotiable child safety conditions and implementation of existing guidelines to protect school-going children from offences like sexual abuse and murder across the country.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices Amitava Roy and A M Khanwilkar fixed the plea filed by Abha R Sharma and Sangeeta Bharti for hearing on September 15.

The plea which also sought cancellation of licences and forfeiture of state grants of erring schools will be heard by the court along with the petition filed yesterday by the father of seven-year-old Pradyuman, who was killed allegedly by a bus conductor at Gurgaon's Ryan International School.

Besides Union Human Resources Ministry, the plea has made all state governments and Union territories (UTs) as parties and has sought proper implementation of existing guidelines of authorities including the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) on prevention of child abuse in schools.

The PIL, filed through lawyer Sujeeta Srivastava, raised the issue of children being exploited and subjected to child abuse repeatedly within the boundaries of the schools and demanded that central and state governments notify a set of non-negotiable child safety conditions for schools. Besides Union Human Resources Ministry, the plea has made all state governments and Union territories (UTs) as parties and has sought proper implementation of existing guidelines of authorities including the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) on prevention of child abuse in schools.