The Delhi High Court on Monday issued notice to the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) and the Delhi Police on the nodal officers responsible for taking action in case they receive bomb threats at schools and the number of mock drills conducted in schools to ensure evacuation of children without panic.
The single-judge Bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad further directed the authorities to indicate the number of schools in each zone and the time to be taken by nodal officers for taking action in case of a bomb threat.
The authorities were directed to file an affidavit within 10 days, indicating various circulars issued by the Delhi Government on the issue from time-to-time.
The High Court directed the Delhi Police to indicate in its response the action taken for investigating the hoax calls received in schools and listed the matter for further hearing on May 16.
The single-judge Bench passed the order on a petition seeking a detailed action plan to deal with bomb threats in the schools, while ensuring the safety and security of children, teachers and staff in the national capital.
Moved by Advocate Arpit Bhargava, the PIL contended that there was no action plan at present to deal with such incidents, which can cause ‘havoc’ in anyone’s family and can have a large impact.
Referring to a recent incident where various schools in Delhi received hoax mail about bomb threats, the counsel appearing for Bhargava submitted that everyone in the city was affected as every household has a kid.
He said the parents were traumatized and insecure. Everyone was insecure. A petition in this regard was filed in 2023. A year has passed since and yet, nothing was in place. He asked whether the authorities were waiting for a bomb to explode in a school.
Appearing for the Delhi Government, Advocate Santosh Kumar Tripathi apprised the High Court that the Delhi Police had filed an affidavit stating that it has an SOP to deal with hoax and actual bomb threat calls.
He said there were around 5,500 schools in the national capital and it was not at all possible and feasible to deploy police personnel at every school with modern equipment.
In order to avoid such a situation and to ensure preparedness, the Delhi police had issued its own SOP, he added.
He said as per the SOP, once a bomb threat was received, the first step to be taken by the school was to inform the police and the second step was evacuation of children.
Calling the Delhi Police’s SOP as ‘general in nature,’ the High Court observed that some institutions, such as hospitals and schools, required special treatment, and a special SOP.
The High Court asked the police about the steps it would take in a school, which housed children right from nursery to 12th.
An officer from the Delhi Government’s Directorate of Education apprised the single-judge Bench that the schools were directed to conduct mock drills to handle such situations. They were also asked to send an action taken report after doing the exercise.
Mock drills were regualrly being conducted in schools and every school has had an evacuation plan, added the official.
The petition sought an action plan to deal with ‘repeated’ incidents of bomb scares in schools across Delhi. It further suggested holding regular evacuation drills and other exercises for the safety and security of children studying in schools.
It mentioned an incident of November 2023, wherein an email was received about a bomb in The Indian School, which later turned out to be a hoax.
The petitioner said that another school was targeted in a similar manner in April, wherein some miscreants sent an email in relation to the presence of a bomb in DPS Mathura Road school premises, leading to chaos, and mental & emotional trauma for everyone.
He submitted that a mechanism needed to be in place to eliminate the chances of such incidents being repeated again.
The petitioner contended that if the children studying in schools were under repeated and constant threat, it was the collective failure of one and all to provide a safe environment.
The petition contended that there was an urgent need to address the issue (s) raised in the instant petition without any further delay and to have a detailed action plan formulated with regard to such incidents of bomb threats in schools.
The plan needed to be implemented in a time-bound manner with detailed Standard Operating Procedures to be followed for one and all including regular evacuation drills involving each and every parent and child, automatic intimation in case of emergency instead of manual calling, streamlining the process outside schools to eliminate the chances of chaos and such other improvements.