The Supreme Court on Wednesday clarified that nursery and elementary schools in the country should run from buildings that were built as per local construction bye-laws.
A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih passed the order on a plea of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) seeking a clarification on certain directions issued by the apex court in its April 13, 2009 verdict.
“The nursery and elementary schools should be housed in the buildings which are constructed in accordance with the local building bye-laws as are applicable in the concerned area,” it said.
One of the directions on which the CBSE sought the clarification read, “The nursery and elementary schools should be housed in single-storied buildings and the maximum number of floors in school buildings shall be restricted to three including the ground floor.”
A clarification was also sought on another direction issued by the top court in 2009 which said the staircases, which act as exits or escape routes, should adhere to the provisions specified in the National Building Code of India, 2005 to ensure quick evacuation of children.
Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBSE, said the apex court’s directions were passed in 2009 keeping in mind fire hazards.
“There are several states where their building bye-laws permit four storied, five storied (buildings) with fire safety mechanism,” he said.
Mehta said CBSE’s criteria was in tune with the directions issued by the apex court in 2009.
He said there was a National Building Code, 2016 which came into force after the court’s 2009 directions and other states had also changed their bye-laws accordingly.
“Now the difficulty is, when we get an application for recognition, we insist on the old direction,” Mehta said.
The respective building bye-laws of states, which were statutory in nature, permitted higher storied (buildings) with fire safety measures, he added.
“Therefore, I (CBSE) am seeking that let that be relaxed. We may permit if they are complying with the building bye-laws of the respective area,” Mehta said.
The bench noted while hearing the matter in November last year, it said it would be appropriate that a senior officer dealing with fire safety from the Centre’s urban development department filed an affidavit on the steps taken to ensure fire safety before finalising the national building plan.
The bench said an affidavit was filed before it which said during the revision of bye-laws, detailed consultations were undertaken with the Central and state agencies and after due deliberations, the model building bye-laws of 2016 were revised or amended.
The bench said the two clauses of one of the paragraphs of the 2009 judgement needed clarification.
It said the staircases, which act as exits or escape routes, should adhere to the provisions specified in the model building bye-laws, 2016 or as per the local bye-laws as applicable in the areas where such schools were situated. (PTI)
