Delhi HC raps cops for booking teacher

New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Wednesday rapped the Delhi police for absolving PWD officials and prosecuting a government school teacher for the death of an 11-year-old student after falling in an open manhole in a city park.

“We have failed to understand how the police could prosecute the teacher, accompanying the children to a picnic, and how he or she was supposed to know about the existence of an uncovered manhole in the park,” a bench of acting chief justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar said. The bench said that it “shocked” at the decision.

The court was hearing a matter after taking suo motu cognisance of the incident in which the school boy 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 had drowned before help could reach.

The court pulled up the police when it was informed that a criminal case had been lodged against the teacher and a chargesheet has also been filed. “It took three hours for the fire brigade to find the child. How can you prosecute the teachers as you (PWD) have left the pit open? This is blatant prosecution. There is complete lack of vision. Tell us how much compensation you are going to pay to the child’s family,” the bench asked.

Directing the counsel to inform it about the compensation amount on Thursday, it said a wrongful attempt has been made in the affidavit to change the course of justice.

The high court noted that while the PWD has accepted that there was a fault at its end as the pit was left open, it has absolved itself from any responsibility.