A plea seeking stay of the Delhi government notification directing the public schools of national capital to provide their buses for running as public transport from January 1 to 15 when the number of private vehicles on the capital’s roads will drastically fall, was filed in Delhi High Court on Monday, 28th December 2015.
The plea was filed by Action Committee of Unaided Private Schools’ president, S.K. Bhattacharya.
Contending that city’s private unaided recognised schools are managed by their own resources and the government does not provide any financial help to them, Bhattacharya requested court to stay the operation of government notification issued on December 18 and December 21.
The directorate of education has issued two circulars directing private schools to provide their school buses along with drivers and helpers for running it as public transport from January 1 to 15 when private vehicles with odd and even registration numbers will ply on odd and even dates.
The Delhi government has directed all city schools to shut from January 1-15 during the trial period of its odd-even formula.
There is no provision which authorises the government to take control of the private property of these schools, without their consent, for government or public use and the same is in complete violation of constitutional rights, the plea said.
“…the act of the directorate of education to make the schools sign on the dotted line and ask them to sign the standard agreement of DTC for the school buses is completely autocratic,” said the plea filed by counsel Pramod Gupta.
Advocate Gupta in the plea said that forcing private schools to provide their buses are completely unfair and illegal.
The plea likely to be heard on December 30 by the vacation bench of Delhi High Court.
