NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Monday sought the response of the government on a plea seeking the construction of a new building of a government school in Mustafabad, which was demolished during the Covid-19 pandemic, and expressed dissatisfaction over the delay of construction.
A bench presided over by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and comprising Justice Subramonium Prasad issued notice and directed the government to file a response in the matter while posting it for further hearing on July 20.
Delhi government standing Counsel Santosh Kumar Tripathi submitted that a tender has been re-awarded and construction of the building will start soon. The school, which was earlier being run in tents and portal cabins, was razed to the ground in order to construct a new school building back in 2021 June.
The PIL petition, Social Jurist, a Civil Rights Group, moved through advocates Ashok Agarwal and Kumar Utkarsh contended that an amount of `16.54 crore was sanctioned on June 25, 2021 to PWD for construction of the new school building, but the work has not yet started.
“It is a blatant failure on the part of respondents to discharge their constitutional and legal obligations to provide education to children of masses,” the plea said. The plea stated that inaction on the part of respondent authorities violates the fundamental right to education of students as guaranteed under Articles 14, 21 and 21-A of the Constitution of India read with provisions of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.
School was razed to construct new building
The school, which was earlier being run in tents and portal cabins, was razed to the ground in order to construct a new school building in 2021. A bench directed the government to file a response in the matter.