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HC seeks response from Delhi govt on fire safety norms

The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the AAP government to submit its response on a PIL seeking compliance of…

HC seeks response from Delhi govt on fire safety norms

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The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the AAP government to submit its response on a PIL seeking compliance of the Supreme Court’s directives on fire safety and building stability norms observed by private and government schools in the national capital.

A notice was issued to the Delhi government and civic bodies by a bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar in this regard. The matter has been posted for further hearing on January 29 next year.

As alleged through the PIL, the Delhi government and its various agencies have no answer to the question about how many schools were complying with the safety norms-related directives. This is the reason why the court has been approached.

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The Supreme Court had in 2009 issued directions to all the schools in India to have fire safety and stability certificates, but these were not being complied with it, as claimed through the public interest litigation (PIL).

Filed through counsel Rajesh Gogna, the PIL said the petitioner learnt about the lack of data with the authorities in this regard after he questioned them under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

The petition claimed, “School-going children are easy target of any mishap and it must be the duty of the respondents (authorities) to check and identify which schools in Delhi have no fire safety and building stability certificate and the respondents must derecognize those institutions till the time the safety norms are implemented.”

 

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