REPORTABLE

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION

WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO.483 OF 2004

Avinash Mehrotra …… Petitioner

Versus

Union of India & Others …… Respondents

J U D G M E N T

Dalveer Bhandari,   J.   

1. This important Public Interest Litigation relates to a fire

swept  through  the  Lord  Krishna  Middle  School  in  District

Kumbakonam in the city  of  Madras,  Tamil  Nadu.   The  fire

started  in  the  school’s  kitchen  while  cooks  were  preparing

mid-day  meal.   In  order  to  protect  the  rights  of  life  and

education  guaranteed  to  all  school  going  children  under

Articles 21 and 21-A, the petitioner has prayed this Court to

bring about safer school conditions.

2. It is alleged that Lord Krishna Middle School is one of the

thousands of private schools that have sprung up in response

to  drastic  cuts  in  government  spending  on  education.  This

building  houses  more  than  900  students  in  a  crowded,

thatched-roof  building  with  a  single  entrance,  a  narrow

stairway, windowless classrooms and only one entrance and

exit.

3. The  fire  had  sparked  by  dry  coconut  leaves  used  as

firewood  in  a  nearby  makeshift  kitchen  with  thatched-roof.

The fire had started when the cooks were preparing mid-day

meal under a Mid-day meal scheme popular in Tamil Nadu.  It

is alleged that the ventilation of the entire school building was

extremely poor with only cement-perforated windows.    It took

sufficient time for the fire fighters on a crane to break these

windows and rescue the few children they could with severe

burn  injuries.     The  kitchen  fire  rose  so  high  that  the

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thatched roof  of  the classrooms caught fire and the blazing

roof  supported  by  bamboo  poles  collapsed  on  the  school

children and most of them died on the spot.   

4. The  nearby  residents  started  dousing  the  flames  and

trying to rescue children.  The school’s  narrow, steep stairs

and few exists apparently hampered those efforts.  The crowd

of volunteer rescuers ended up blocking the main door as they

tried to help.    

5. According  to  rules,  a  government-certified  engineer  is

supposed to visit these schools once every two years and issue

a “stability certificate” if the building is found to be in good

condition and all safety precautions are met.   The engineer

can  refuse  to  issue  the  certificate  if  he  finds  the  safety

measures inadequate, losing the school its licence to operate.

6. It  is  mentioned  in  the  petition  that  the  investigations

have  revealed  that  the  school  in  Kumbakonam  was  last

inspected three years ago. The school had a thatched roof in

severe  violation  of  building  laws.   It  even  had  a  thatched

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kitchen close to the thatched classrooms.   The fire officials

had described the school as a death trap.   They said that the

victims had no chance of escape when the fire erupted as they

were doing their lessons on the top floor.  It is alleged that the

incidence of Kumbakonam District is not the first of its kind.

In the year 1995, a school prize-giving ceremony in a Northern

Indian town turned to tragedy when a fire broke out, killing

nearly 400 people, many of them children and teenagers.   The

fire was caused by an electrical short circuit in the town of

Dabwali  in the state of  Haryana,  about 150 miles  from the

National Capital.     

7. Flagrant violation of school safety regulations continues

in the entire country even four decades after the government

pledged  to  enforce  them  after  a  private  school  building  in

Madurai caves in, killing 35 school girls and injuring 137.    

8. The petitioner has prayed that he has filed this petition

with a specific objective that:

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(1) each and every  child  of  this  country  can receive  good

education free from fear of safety and security,  

(2) to ensure that more stringent rules and regulations are

framed keeping in mind the safety of the students,  

(3) to ensure that such standards of safety are at par with

the highest standards set up anywhere in the world; and  

(4) to  ensure  that  such  standards  are  in  fact  enforced

regularly  for  the  safety  and  protection  of  children  in

classrooms across the country.    

9. The petitioner has submitted that the concerned building

by-laws and rules are not followed by most of the schools in

the country causing serious safety hazards for the children.     

10. In this petition, it is prayed that along with the existing

rules  regarding  safety,  some  additional  rules  be  framed  to

strengthen  the  laws  to  protect  the  children  in   school

buildings in cases of fire and other kinds of emergencies.  In

the petition, the petitioner has prayed for:

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(i) Developing  a  manual  with  fire  safety  procedures,  and

other  safety  precautions  and  distributing  them  in

schools.  The manual can include the ways fires can be

prevented  through  careful  design,  management,  and

maintenance practice; and ideas for limiting fire damage,

and other calamities.  Marking clear and safe emergency

evacuations.   Making  sure  that  all  exists  are  marked

clearly  and  that  there  are  no  objects  obstructing  the

Entry and Exit of the school building.   

(ii) Ensuring that the kitchen in the precincts of the school

has  adequate  safety  mechanisms.   Not  keeping  any

hazardous, inflammable material in the school precincts.

Not making school buildings with inflammable material

like  thatched roof,  or  having any exposed wires in the

school.  

(iii) Separating hazardous areas from the main school.

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(iv) Ensuring that the schools are not exceeding the limit of

the students it can admit in accordance with the facilities

available for each school, ensuring proper facilities like

safe  drinking  water,  toilets,  first  aid  boxes,  proper

ventilation, lighting etc is available to the students and

the teachers.   

(v) Schools must take appropriate safety measures and an

emergency  response  plan  that  delineates  staff

responsibilities, communication modes, and training and

updating procedures for all members of the faculty, staff

and students.   Assigning duties to teachers in case of an

emergency like fire, earthquake, flood, a mob attack etc

and  training  the  staff  to  ensure  that  all  safety

precautions are followed.

(vi) Fire insurance coverage should be made mandatory for

all  schools.   This  will  also  help  as  all  insurance

companies  will  definitely  inspect  the  school  premises

before  agreeing  to  provide  insurance  cover,  thereby

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ensuring adherence to the highest  safety standards by

the schools.

(vii) Residential  schools  to  have  proper  safety  measures  in

case of using boilers, kitchen, ensuring that there is no

leakage while using or storing fuel, and that it is outside

the reach of children.   All school buildings must install

fire extinguishing equipment and sensor alarms in case

of  fires.   Such  alarms  must  be  able  to  automatically

intimate  the  nearest  local  fire  station  so  that  their

response times are much quicker in case of fire.

(viii) Regular fire drills to make students aware of what to do

in case of a fire emergency.

(ix) The States should deal with all aspects of safety within

schools  pertaining  to classrooms,  kitchen,  laboratories,

and  libraries  and  outside  schools  relating  to

playgrounds, swimming pools and field trips.

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(x) There should be a policy prescribing safety audits in all

schools vide which an assessment of the extent to which

the  stipulated  safety  procedures  for  a  particular

area/task are followed can be done.  Audits can be used

to  identify  weaknesses  in  safety  norms  and  check

compliance with set standards and reinforce positive safe

behaviour.

(xi) The  local  authorities  in  both  urban  and  rural  areas

should  be  given  specific  directions  with  regard  to  the

safety measures by the respective State Government.

11. In the petition, it is averred that the State is duty bound

to protect and secure lives of students across the country by

ensuring the minimum safety standards.  The State is liable to

promulgate policies, which ensure the implementation of the

safety  laws  and  procedures  laid  down.    The  State  must

ensure that the government-certified engineer visits each and

every school at least once in two years and issued a ‘stability

certificate’. if the building is found to be in good condition and

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all  safety  precautions  are  met.   There  should  be  strict

supervision on those engineers who can issue these kinds of

certificates.   It  is  alleged  that  most  of  the  Indian  private

schools  in  district  towns  are  dull,  claustrophobic,  cramped

and often have derelict structures with no fire safety systems,

playgrounds or libraries.  Most of these private schools in the

district towns are located in a warren of congested lanes and

school authorities often lock the gates when classes are on to

keep children from slipping out of the school.   Most of the

schools  in  the  villages  and  small  towns  are  still  made  of

thatched roofs made from coconut leaves or other cheap and

easily available materials to avoid the cost of construction in

flagrant violation of the building laws.

12. It  is prayed in the petition that a committee of jurists,

legal  experts  and  lawyers  be  constituted  to  formulate  a

comprehensive report in a time bound plan for carrying out

reforms in the safety standards as prescribed in the schools

and to direct all the schools to implement the plan, alternately

to  come  forward  with  their  own  plan  for  providing  safety

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measures in the schools.   It is further prayed that this Court

should evolve model safety standards as a part of Article 21

and  for  free  and  fair  exercise  of  fundamental  rights  under

Articles 14, 15 and 19 of the Constitution of India.

13. In this petition, we are called upon to determine what, if

any, safety standards schools should have and how, if at all,

schools have not met those standards.

14. The National Building Code of India, 2005, promulgated

by  the  Bureau  of  Indian  Standards,  provides  detailed

instructions on how to construct fire-safe buildings.  Tables

and drawings set standard for schools particularly, including

number  and  type  of  fire  extinguishers,  quantity  of  water

necessary  for  a  proper  fire  suppression  system,  and  many

more, providing an engineer-tested, nationally applicable  set

of  standards  that  our  schools  could  follow.   In  the

introductory  materials  for  the  Code,  the  Bureau  of  Indian

Standards affirms the petitioner’s claim in this case:

“The  hazards of  fire  in educational  buildings can be considerably lowered by adoption of certain predetermined fire safety measures with regard to

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proper  planning  of  buildings,  choice  of  proper materials  and  components,  electrical  equipments and  making  suitable  provisions  for  fire  detection and suppression system.”

15. This  Court  issued  notice  to  the  Union  of  India,  State

Governments and the Union Territories.  Replies and counter

affidavits  have  been  received  from  almost  all  the  State

Governments and the Union Territories and also the Union of

India.   This  Court  appointed  Mr.  Colin  Gonsalves,  learned

Senior Advocate as Amicus Curiae.   He also suggested some

guidelines  which  need  to  be  followed  by  all  schools  in  the

country.

16.   27 States and Territories  have  filed affidavits  in this

Court detailing the current safety of their schools and plans

for improvement.     The States admit that many schools do

not meet self-determined safety standards, let alone the more

rigorous  standards  of  the  National  Building  Code.   The

affidavits  generally  focus  on  plans  for  improvement,  rather

than  schools’  current  conditions,  because  much  work

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remain.    Where  States  have  provided  detailed  counts  of

schools  and  installed  safety  features,  it  emerges  that

thousands  of  schools  lack  any  fire  suppression  equipment.

Thousands  more  schools  do  not  have  adequate  emergency

egress or non-inflammable roofs.  Unfortunately, most States

failed  to  provide  any  quantitative  data  in  their  affidavits.

Instead these States filed vague plans for future renovations

and  piecemeal  schemes  to  improve  schools  safety.   Little

technical advice informs some of the plans, and few have any

admitted force of law or fail-safe or follow-up mechanism from

the State Government.

17. While we applaud States’ efforts to improve schools, we

find  that  States  have  done  too  little,  too  late.   With  the

guidance of the National Building Code and affidavits in this

case, we view Mr. Gonsalves’s brief as crystallizing a minimum

set of safety standards for schools.  By their own admission,

States have not met these standards and they have welcomed

this  Court’s  guidance  in  achieving  improvement.   We  will

consider in more detail the exact standards required and relief

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sought  later  in  this  view.   It  is  clearly  borne  out  from the

affidavits  filed  by  the  respondents  that  even  the  basic  fire

extinguishing equipments have not been installed in most of

the schools.   Majority of the schools do not have emergency

exits. The schools must realize and properly comprehend the

importance  of  the  fire  safety  equipments,  but  unfortunately

most of the schools do not have fire extinguishing equipments

and consequently, the schools are not following the minimum

safety standards prescribed by the Building Code, the Bureau

of Indian Standards.

18. Despite best intentions and frequent agreements, these

codes  and  safety  standards  rarely  bind  builders  in  law  or

practice.   State  or  local  governments  must  enact  Building

Codes before any may have the force of law.  Some Building

Codes  exist  in  law,  but  few  states  or  municipalities  have

enacted a standard as rigorous as the National Building Code.

Weak  enforcement  often  then  moots  the  enacted  code’s

effectiveness, no matter the Code’s intent, whether fire safety

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officials, routinely speak to the need for meaningful standards

with real enforcement.

19. In the petition, the petitioner does not seek damages or

court’s finding on culpability. The main intention of filing this

petition  is  to  protect  against  similar  future  tragedies  by

improving the conditions of the schools in our country.

20. Education  occupies  an  important  place  in  our

Constitution and culture.  There has been emphasis on free

and compulsory education for children in this country for a

long time.  There is a very strong historical perspective.   The

Hunter  Commission  in  1882-83,  almost  125  years  ago,

recommended  Universal  Education  in  India.  It  proposed  to

make education compulsory for the children.

21. The  Government  of  India  Act,  1935  provided  that

“education should be made free and compulsory for both boys

and  girls.”   While  debating  in  a  bill  in  Imperial  Legislation

Council  in  1911,  Shri  Gopal  Krishna  Gokhale  strongly

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advocated  that  elementary  education  should  be  both

compulsory and free.

22. Our original Framers of the Constitution placed free and

compulsory  education  in  the  Directive  Principles.   The  un-

amended Article 45 provided that:

“The State shall endeavour to provide, within a period of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution, for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years.”

23. The  Kothari  Commission  on  Education  set  up  by  the

Government of India in 1966 strongly recommended free and

compulsory  education  for  children  up  to  14  years.   The

Commission observed that there is no other way for the poor

to climb their way out of this predicament.

24. Education  occupies  a  sacred  place  within  our

Constitution  and  culture.   Article  21A  of  the  Constitution,

adopted  in  2002,  codified  this  Court’s  holding  in  Unni

Krishnan,  J.P. & Others  v. State of Andhra Pradesh &

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Ors. (1993)  1 SCC 645,  in which we established  a right to

education.  Parliament did not merely  affirm that right;  the

Amending  Act  placed  the  right  to  education  within  the

Constitution’s set of Fundamental Rights, the most cherished

principles  of  our  society.   As  the  Court  observed  in  Unni

Krishnan (supra), para 8:

“The immortal Poet Valluvar whose Tirukkural will surpass all ages and transcend all religious said of education:  

“Learning is excellence of wealth that none destroy; To man nought else affords reality of joy.”

25. Education  today  remains  liberation  –  a  tool  for  the

betterment of our civil institutions, the protection of our civil

liberties,  and  the  path  to  an  informed  and  questioning

citizenry.    

26. Then as now, we recognize education’s “transcendental

importance” in the lives of individuals and in the very survival

of  our  Constitution  and  Republic.   In  the  years  since  the

inclusion of  Article  21A,  we  have  clarified  that  the  right  to

education attaches to the individual as an inalienable human

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right.  We have traced the broad scope of this right in  R. D.

Upadhyay  v.  State  of  A.P.  &  Ors. AIR  2006  SC  1946,

holding that the State must provide education to all children

in all places, even in prisons, to the children of prisoners.  We

have also affirmed the inviolability of the right to education.

In  Election Commission of India v. St. Mary’s School &

Ors. (2008) 2 SCC 390, we refused to allow the State to take

teachers from the classroom to work in polling places.  While

the democratic State has a mandate to conduct elections, the

mundane demands of instruction superseded the State’s need

to staff polling places. Indeed, the democratic State may never

reach  its  greatest  potential  without  a  citizenry  sufficiently

educated  to  understand  civil  rights  and  social  duties,

Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India & Ors.,  (1997)

10 SCC 549.  These conclusions all follow from our opinion in

Unni Krishnan.  Education remains essential to the life of the

individual, as much as health and dignity, and the State must

provide it, comprehensively and completely, in order to satisfy

its highest duty to citizens.  

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27. Unlike other fundamental rights, the right to education

places a burden not only on the State, but also on the parent

or guardian of every child, and on the child herself.   Article

21A, which reads as follows, places one obligation primarily

on the State:

“The  State  shall  provide  free  and  compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years  in  such  manner  as  the  State  may,  by  law, determine.”

28. By  contrast,  Article  51A(k),  which  reads  as  follows,

places burden squarely on the parents:

“Fundamental duties – it shall be the duty of every citizen of  India  who is  the  parent  or  guardian to provide opportunities for education to his child or, as the case may be, ward between the age of six and fourteen years.”

29. The  Constitution  directs  both  burdens  to  achieve  one

end:  the  compulsory  education  of  children,  free  from  the

fetters  of  cost,  parental  obstruction, or State inaction.   The

two articles also balance the relative burdens on parents and

the State.  Parents sacrifice for the education of their children,

by sending them to school for hours of the day, but only with

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a commensurate sacrifice of the State’s resources.  The right

to  education,  then,  is  more  than a  human or  fundamental

right. It is a reciprocal agreement between the State and the

family, and it places an affirmative burden on all participants

in our civil society.

30. This Court has routinely held that another fundamental

right to life encompasses more than a breath and a heartbeat.

In reflecting on the meaning of “personal liberty” in Articles 19

and 21, we have held that “that ‘personal liberty’ is used in

the article as a compendious term to include within itself all

the  varieties  of  rights  which  go  to  makeup  the  ‘personal

liberties’ of man.”  Kharak Singh v. State of U.P. & Ors. AIR

1963  SC  1295,  para  16.   Similarly,  we  must  hold  that

educating  a  child  requires  more  than  a  teacher  and  a

blackboard,  or  a  classroom  and  a  book.    The  right  to

education requires that a child study in a quality school, and

a quality school certainly should pose no threat to a child’s

safety.    We  reached  a  similar  conclusion,  on  the

comprehensive guarantees implicit in the right to education,

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only  recently  in our opinion in  Ashoka Kumar Thakur v.

Union of India & Ors. (2008) 6 SCC 1.

31. The Constitution likewise provides meaning to the word

“education”  beyond its  dictionary meaning.   Parents should

not be compelled to send their children to dangerous schools,

nor should children suffer compulsory education in unsound

buildings.  Likewise,  the  State’s  reciprocal  duty  to  parents

begins with the provision of a free education, and it extends to

the State’s regulatory power.  No matter where a family seeks

to educate its children, the State must ensure that children

suffer no harm in exercising their fundamental right and civic

duty.  States thus bear the additional burden of regulation,

ensuring  that  schools  provide  safe  facilities  as  part  of  a

compulsory education.

32. In the instant case, we have no need to sketch all the

contours of the Constitution’s guarantees, so we do not.  We

merely  hold  that  the  right  to  education  incorporates  the

provision of safe schools.  

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33. This  Court  in  Ashoka Kumar Thakur’s  case (supra)

observed as under:

“It has become necessary that the Government set a realistic target within which it must fully implement Article  21A  regarding  free  and  compulsory education for the entire country.  The Government should  suitably  revise  budget  allocations  for education.  The priorities have to be set correctly. The  most  important  fundamental  right  may  be Article  21A,  which,  in  the  larger  interest  of  the nation, must be fully implemented.  Without Article 21A,  the  other  fundamental  rights  are  effectively rendered  meaningless.   Education  stands  above other  rights,  as  one’s  ability  to  enforce  one’s fundamental  rights  flows  from  one’s  education. This  is  ultimately  why the judiciary must  oversee Government  spending  on  free  and  compulsory education.”

34. In view of the importance of Article 21A, it is imperative

that  the  education  which  is  provided  to  children  in  the

primary schools should be in the environment of safety.

35. In view of what has happened in Lord Krishna Middle

School  in  District  Kumbakonam and  other  incidents  which

have  been  enumerated  in  the  preceding  paragraphs,  it  has

become  imperative  that  each  school  must  follow  the  bare

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minimum safety standards, in addition to the compliance of

the National Building Code of India, 2005,  in particular Part

IV – Fire & Life Safety and the Code of Practice of Fire Safety

in Educational Institutions (IS 14435:1997) of the Bureau of

Indian Standards.  The said safety standards are enumerated

hereinbelow:

3.1 FIRE SAFETY MEASURES IN SCHOOLS:

i. Provision of adequate capacity and numbers of fire

extinguishers  of  ISI  marks to be provided in eye-

catching spots in each block of the school.

ii. First Aid kits  and necessary medicines  should  be

readily available in the school.

iii. Provision  of  water  tank and separate  piping  from

the tank with hose reel to the ground floor and first

floor.

iv. Fire  fighting training to all  teachers and students

from X to XII standards.

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v. Fire Task Force in every school comprising of Head

of the institution, two teachers / staff members and

one member from the Fire and Rescue Department

should  be  constituted.   The  Fire  &  Rescue

Department  member  shall  monitor  and  make  fire

safety plan and conduct inspections once in every

three months.

vi. Display of emergency telephone numbers and list of

persons to  be  contacted  on the  notice  board  and

other prominent places.

vii. Mock drills to be conducted regularly.  Fire alarm to

be  provided  in  each  floor  and  for  rural  schools

separate  long  bell  arrangement  in  case  of

emergency.

viii. All  old  electrical  wiring  and  equipment  shall  be

replaced  with  ISI  mark  equipments  and  routine

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maintenance conducted by the School Management

in  consultation  with  the  Fire  and  Rescue

Department.

ix. No High Tension lines should run inside or in close

proximity  to  the  school.   Steps must  be  taken to

shift them if they are already there.

x. The  Fire  and  Rescue  Department  shall  frame

guidelines with “DOS and DON’Ts’ for schools and

issue a fitness certificate,  which shall  be renewed

periodically.   

3.2 TRAINING OF SCHOOL TEACHERS & OTHER STAFF:

i. The teachers along with other staff shall be trained

to  handle  safety  equipment,  initiate  emergency

evacuations and protect their students in the event

of  fire  and  other  emergencies  by  the  Fire  and

Rescue Department.

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ii. They shall  also be trained in providing emergency

first-aid treatment.

iii.  There shall be a School Safety Advisory Committee

and  an  Emergency  Response  Plan  drafted  by  the

Committee  in  approval  and  consultation  with  the

concerned Fire & Rescue Department.

iv.  Emergency  Response  Drills  conducted  at  regular

intervals to train the students as well as the school staff.

v.  All  schools  to  observe  Fire  Safety  Day  on  14th of

April every year with awareness programs and fire safety

drills  in  collaboration  with  the  Fire  and  Rescue

Department.

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3.3 SCHOOL BUILDING SPECIFICATIONS:

i. The school buildings shall preferably be a ‘A’ Class

construction with brick / stone masonry walls with

RCC roofing.   Where  it  is  not  possible  to provide

RCC  roofing  only  non-combustible  fireproof  heat

resistance materials should be used.

ii. The  nursery  and  elementary  schools  should  be

housed  in  single  storied  buildings  and  the

maximum number of floors in school buildings shall

be restricted to three including the ground floor.

iii. The School building shall be free from inflammable

and toxic materials, which if necessary, should be

stored away from the school building.

iv. The staircases, which act as exits or escape routes,

shall adhere to provisions specified in the National

Building  Code  of  India  2005  to  ensure  quick

evacuation of children.

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v. The orientation of the buildings shall be in such a

way  that  proper  air  circulation  and  lighting  is

available with open space all round the building as

far as possible.

vi. Existing  school  buildings  shall  be  provided  with

additional doors in the main entrances as well  as

the class rooms if required.  The size of the main

exit and classroom doors shall be enlarged if found

inadequate.

vii. School buildings have to be insured against fire and

natural calamities with Group Insurance of school

pupils.

viii. Kitchen  and  other  activities  involving  use  of  fire

shall  be carried out in a secure and safe location

away from the main school building.

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ix. All schools shall have water storage tanks.

3.4 CLEARANCES & CERTIFICATES:

i. Every  School  shall  have  a  mandatory  fire  safety

inspection  by  the  Fire  and  Rescue  Services

Department followed by issuance of a ‘no objection

certificate’  to  the  School  as  a  mandatory

requirement for granting permission for establishing

or continuation of a School.

i. An Inspection Team consisting of experts like a Civil

Engineer,  a  Health  Officer,  a  Revenue  Officer,  a

Psychologist, a Fire Officer, a local body officer and

a  development  officer  besides  the  educational

authorities shall carry inspection and assessment of

infrastructural  facilities before  the commencement

of each academic year.  The Team shall submit its

Inspection  Report  to  the  concerned  district  Chief

Educational Officer.

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iii.  The  building  plans  for  schools  shall  be  prepared

only by a Government certified engineer and the PWD

Executive  Engineer  concerned  should  inspect  the

building  and  award  a  structural  stability  certificate.

Stability  Certificates  shall  be  issued  by the  State  or

Central  Government  Engineers  only  and  shall  be

mandatory for granting permission for establishing or

continuation of a School.

iv.  In every district, one Recognition Committee headed

by a retired judge shall be constituted.  Officials from

Revenue Department, Public Works Department, Fire

Service,  Electricity  Board,  Health  and  Education

Department, a reputed NGO shall be members.  They

shall visit the schools periodically or at least the erring

institutions as listed by the Chief Education Officer.

v.  Conditional  recognition  /  approval  shall  never  by

resorted to for any school.

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36. In this petition, we need not take any action contrary to

government policy to fulfill the Constitution’s mandate.  Union

and  State  officials  have  already  filed  wide-ranging  plans  to

improve school safety.  Along with the National Building Code,

a combination of the better parts of these plans would bring

the  nation’s  schools  to  an adequate  level  of  safety.   States

have  also  expressed  enthusiasm for  reform and some  have

asked this Court expressly for direction.

37. Many States have  already begun implementation.  The

most forward thinking States have enacted and enforced the

National  Building  Code  in  their  schools.  Often  these  States

have  also  created,  empowered  and  funded  a  state-wide

emergency  response  office.  The  coordinated  efforts  and

concentration  of  knowledge  in  these  administrative  units

make States better able to prepare for emergencies, as much

as to respond once the problem has started.  For example, the

State  of  Gujarat  has  established  such  an  emergency

management office.  Having already settled building codes and

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other  large  issues,  the  State  can focus  on other  aspects  of

emergency  management.   With  the  assistance  of  outside

experts,  Gujarat  recently  created  a colouring  book  to  teach

children how to respond to emergencies. On a smaller scale,

but  no  less  vital,  in  the  Union  Territory  of  Pondicherry,

administrators  replaced  all  thatched  roofs  and allocated  an

additional  Rs.500  lakhs  to  build  pucca  classrooms.   Some

States  have  counted  their  schools  and know which require

repairs;  they  provided  these  details  in  their  affidavits  along

with detailed plans for improvement.  We are encouraged by

the agreement shared among States that safety must improve.

Our order should provide additional stimulus for the general

aims of the States’ already agreed policy.

38. In  the  end,  we  should  need  to  do  little  but  enforce

existing  laws  and  encourage  States  in  their  own  well-

intentioned safety programmes.  However, in the years since

the fire at the Lord Krishna Middle School, some States have

moved  slowly  and  safety  standards  have  varied  in  quality

across  States.   These  delays  and variations  have  subjected

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millions more school children to danger from fire, earthquakes

and  other  causes,  when  simple  enhancements  could  offer

much  greater  protection.   Articles  21  and  21-A  of  the

Constitution  require  that  India’s  school  children  receive

education  in  safe  schools.   In  order  to  give  effect  to  the

provisions of  the Constitution,  we must  ensure  that India’s

schools  adhere  to  basic  safety  standards  without  further

delay.

39. It  is  the  fundamental  right  of  each  and every  child  to

receive education free from fear of security and safety.  The

children  cannot  be  compelled  to  receive  education  from an

unsound and unsafe building.   

40. In view of what happened in Lord Krishna Middle School

in District Kumbakonam where 93 children were burnt alive

and  several  similar  incidences  had  happened  in  the  past,

therefore,  it  has  become  imperative  to  direct  that  safety

measures  as  prescribed  by  the  National  Building  Code  of

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India,  2005  be  implemented  by  all  government  and  private

schools functioning in our country.

We direct that:-

(i) Before  granting  recognition  or  affiliation,  the

concerned State Governments and Union Territories

are directed to ensure that the buildings are safe

and  secured  from  every  angle  and  they  are

constructed  according  to  the  safety  norms

incorporated in the National Building Code of India.

(ii) All  existing  government  and  private  schools  shall

install fire extinguishing equipments within a period

of six months.

(iii) The school buildings be kept free from inflammable

and  toxic  material.   If  storage  is  inevitable,  they

should be stored safely.

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(iv) Evaluation of structural aspect of the school may be

carried  out  periodically.   We  direct  that  the

concerned  engineers  and  officials  must  strictly

follow  the  National  Building  Code.   The  safety

certificate  be  issued  only  after  proper  inspection.

Dereliction  in  duty  must  attract  immediate

disciplinary action against the concerned officials.

(v) Necessary  training  be  imparted  to  the  staff  and

other  officials  of  the  school  to  use  the  fire

extinguishing equipments.

41. The  Education  Secretaries  of  each  State  and  Union

Territories are directed to file an affidavit of compliance of this

order within one month after installation of fire extinguishing

equipments.

42. List this petition on 07.12.2009 to ensure compliance of

this order.

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…..…….……………………..J.  (Dalveer Bhandari)

….…….……………………..J. (Lokeshwar Singh Panta)

New Delhi; April 13, 2009.

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