Following the brutal murder of a seven-year-old schoolboy inside Ryan International School in Gurugram, the Supreme Court on Monday sought the response of the Centre and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on a petition by the deceased child’s father demanding a probe by the premier investigating agency into the incident.
His petition also raised the issue of safety and security of children in school and demanded guidelines to be framed for fixing responsibility on school management when incidents of this nature takes place under the care and protection of the school. In this regard, the Bench issued notice to the Ministry of Human Resources Development, the Haryana Government and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) seeking their responses in three weeks.
Speaking to mediapersons at a separate event, Union Human Resources Develo-pment Minister Prakash Javadekar said, “Our department will definitely reply to the Supreme Court…we are talking to schools and parents’ associations to come up with a better solution to ensure safety of children.”
The Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud which passed the order decided to hear the matter soon after it was mentioned by advocate Kamlesh Kumar Mishra, appearing for the boy’s father Barun Chandra Thakur.
His son, a Class II student of Ryan International School was found dead in the school washroom on September 8 with his throat slit with a sharp-edged weapon. The incident occurred minutes after the boy was dropped at school by his father. The police have since arrested a 42-year-old bus conductor employed with the school who allegedly killed the boy for resisting a sodomy bid. However, questions have been raised by the child’s parents on a bigger conspiracy in which the school’s role is suspect.
The Bench in its order said that the issue of safety and security of children at school extends beyond the school in question and the subject in question has country-wide ramifications. The traumatised father was present in the court when the matter was mentioned. In the petition, he demanded “instant” revocation of school’s licence in the event of such incidents and prayed for security to be provided to the boy’s family members.