The Delhi High Court on Wednesday came down heavily on the police for absolving Public Works Department (PWD) officials and prosecuting a government school teacher for the death of an 11-year-old student, who fell in an open manhole in a city park.
The court was hearing the matter after taking suo motu c ognisance of the incident in which the schoolboy had fallen into an open water harvesting pit at the Millennium Park in south Delhi and died on December 21, 2015, during a school picnic. He drowned before help could arrive.
A Bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar said that it failed to understand how the police could prosecute the teacher, who had accompanied the children, and how he or she was supposed to know about the existence of an uncovered manhole in the park.
The court pulled up the police when it was informed that a criminal case had been lodged against the teacher and a charge sheet has also been filed. “We cannot allow you to prosecute the teacher in this case,” the Bench said, adding that at most disciplinary proceedings can be initiated against the teacher.
‘Lack of vision’
“It took three hours for the fire brigade to find the child. How can you prosecute the teachers as you [the PWD] have left the pit open? This is blatant prosecution. There is complete lack of vision,” said the Bench, stating it was “shocked” with the action taken by the police.
The PWD’s counsel and the police told the court that the children were under the control of the teachers. To this, the Bench shot back: “You keep the manhole open and then you say it was the teacher’s fault. We feel that the sanction to prosecute the teacher is mala fide.”
It noted that while the PWD had accepted that there was a fault at its end as the pit was left open, it had absolved itself of any responsibility.
