LexAVINASH MEHROTRA versus UNION OF INDIA & ORS.
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~-i [2009] 5 S.C.R. 913 AVINASH MEHROTRA A v. UNION OF INDIA & ORS. ;. (Writ Petition (c) No. 483 of 2004) ) APRIL 13, 2009 B [DALVEER BHANDARI AND LOKESHWAR SINGH PANTA, JJ.] CONSTITUTION OF /NOIA, 1950: c Articles 21, 21-A, 51-A(K) - Right to receive education free from fear of security and safety - Held: Is the fundamental right of each and every child - Right to ;. education incorporates the provision of safe schools - Articles 21 and 21-A require that children are provided D education in safe schools - State Governments and Union Territories directed to ensure that schools adhere to basic safety standards and school buildings are safe and secured according to the safety norms prescribed by the National Building Code - Affidavits of compliance to be filed by E authorities concerned - Public Interest Litigation - National Building Code of India, 2005 - Part IV - Fire and Life Safety in Educational Institutions. ··~ In a thatched-roof school building, which housed 900 students, a fire broke out in which 93 children were burnt F alive and several others got injured. The said building had a single entrance and exit, a narrow stairway and windowless classrooms. The instant writ petition was filed under Public Interest Litigation in order to protect school children against similar future tragedies and to G '--'\ improve the conditions of the schools in the country. The Court issued notices to the Union of India, State Governments and the Union Territories. Twenty seven States and Union Territories filed affidavits admitting that 913 H 914 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2009] 5 S.C.R. )' 4 A many schools did not meet even the self-determined safety standards which itself were far below in standards of the National Building Code of India, 2005. Directh1g the petition to be listed again, the Court • B HELD: 1.1. In the years since the inclusion of Article ~ 21A in the Constitution of India, the Court has clarified that the right to education attaches to the individual as an inalienable human right. Education remains essential to the life of the individual, as much as health and dignity, c and the St.ate must provide it, comprehensively and completely, in order to satisfy its highest duty to citizens. [Para 26] [927-0-G] Unni Krishnan, J.P. & Others v. State of Andhra Pradesh & Ors. (1993) 1 SCC 645, R.D. Upadhyay v. State of A.P. & ~ ' D Ors. AIR 2006 SC 1946, Election Commission of India Vs. St. Mary's School & Ors. (2008) 2 SCC 390 and Bandhua Mukti Morcha V. Union of India & Ors., (1997) 10 SCC 549, relied on. E 1.2. Unlike other fundamental rights, the right to education places a burden not only on the State (Article 21-A), but also on the parent or guardian of every child, and on the child herself (Article 51-A(k). The Constitution directs both burdens to achieve one end: the compulsory F education of children, free from the fetters of cost, f parental obstruction, or State inaction. The two articles also balance the relative burdens on parents and the State. Parents sacrifice for the education of their children, by sending them to school for hours of the day, but only G with a commensurate sacrifice of the State's resources. The right to education, then, is more than a human or fundamental right. It is a reciprocal agreement between r-· the State and the family, and it places an affirmative burden on all participants in our civil society. [Paras 27 • H and 29] [927-H; 928-A, 0-E] - J AVINASH MEHROTRA v. UNION OF INDIA & ORS. 915 2.1. The right to education incorporates the provision A of safe schools. It is the fundamental right of each and every child to receive education free from fear of security and safety. The children cannot be compelled to receive education in an unsound and unsafe building. Articles 21 and 21-A of the Constitution require that India's children B receive education in safe schools. In order to given effect to the provisions of the Constitution, it must be ensured that schools in the country adhere to basic safety standards without further delay. [Para 32, 38 and 39] [929- E; 935-D-F] C · 2.2. In view of the importance of Article 21A, it is imperative that the education which is provided to children in the primary schools should be in the environment of safety. Educating a child requires more than a teacher and a blackboard, or a classroom and a D book. The right to education requires that a child
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