Focus on studies: SC junks minor’s plea to open schools

Tribune News Service

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New Delhi, September 20

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a petition filed by a Class XII student from Delhi seeking directions to the authorities to re-open schools across India and advised him to focus on studies instead of getting involved in seeking constitutional remedies.

“We can’t, by judicial diktat, say that you shall send your children back to school, oblivious of the dangers which may be there… We can’t just say send all children to schools. There are governance issues,” a Bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud told advocate RP Mehrotra, who represented the 17-year-old petitioner.

NEET: Notice to Centre, NBE, NMC

The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Centre, National Board of Examination (NBE) and National Medical Commission (NMC) on a petition, challenging alleged last-minute changes in the syllabus for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) PG Super Specialty Exam 2021 scheduled in November. The matter has been posted for further hearing on September 27.

Noting that the complexities of governance didn’t permit it to issue such directions, the top court said, “We should leave something for the democratic way of life that the country has adopted. Surely the government wants the children to go back to schools…This issue is fraught with great complexities. We can’t give a judicial mandate in a petition where we don’t have any data”.

The Bench pointed out that the country had just come out of the second wave of Covid-19 and there was still danger of a possible spike of infection.

“Ask your client to focus on studies in school and not get involved himself in seeking constitutional remedies. You see how misplaced this petition is. I am not saying it is a publicity gimmick but this is why children must not get involved in these issues. We don’t have any kind of data before us,” the Bench noted.