The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea by a Class 12 student from Delhi seeking directions to Centre and States to take a time-bound decision in connection with the physical re-opening of schools and conduct of offline teaching.
A bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud said it cannot direct states to reopen schools for physical teaching.
“We just got out of the second wave (Covid). We don’t know where the spike is?”, the bench said.
Justice Chandrachud emphasized that children need to go back to school but, it has to be decided by the states.
The bench noted it does not have scientific data nor complete information on Covid spike in the country and added that governments are wary of exposing children to possible infection.
“The court cannot take over governance and decide these issues… Let governments take decision”, added the bench. also comprising Justice BV Nagarathna.
On submission that malls and restaurants have been opened, and also the mental and psychological fallout of the closure of schools on the students, the bench noted that children should not be involved in these matters and emphasized that these issues are fraught with grave complexity.
“We don’t think, we should enter here by judicial mandates”, noted the bench, asking the advocate to withdraw the petition.