Karnataka High Court rules schools are liable for student safety on bus commutes

The Karnataka High Court in Bengaluru has ruled that a school's responsibility for its students does not end when they leave the campus premises, declaring that school buses must be treated as an extension of the school itself.

In a recent order, Justice M Nagaprasanna emphasized that ensuring the safety of children during their bus commutes is a statutory duty. The court ruled that educational institutions are legally obligated to ensure proper supervision of students during transit, which includes deploying attendants or teachers on school buses until every child is safely dropped home and handed over to their parents.

The ruling was delivered as the High Court dismissed a petition filed by the management of Divyajyothi School in Mandya. The school management had sought to quash a First Information Report (FIR) registered against them after a Class IV student allegedly lost vision in one eye following an incident that occurred inside a school bus.

Justice Nagaprasanna noted that schools must comply with the Karnataka Educational Institutions (Classification, Regulation and Prescription of Curricula, etc) (Amendment) Rules, 2018. Under these rules, schools are required to provide supervision on buses until the very last child is dropped off.

"The schools cannot violate the said mandate of the statute," the court observed in its ruling. "A child which travels in a school bus which is an extension of the school itself, cannot be left high and dry till the child from the school reaches the house even if it is the last stop. The schools cannot show a hands off to the responsibility of compliance with the mandate of the statute."

Rejecting the school management's plea, the court underscored that ensuring the safety of children traveling in school buses is a statutory duty and not merely an administrative convenience.

The court found that the allegations against the school management prima facie disclose an offence under Section 125(a) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. This section deals with rash or negligent acts that endanger human life or personal safety resulting in hurt.

Consequently, the High Court refused to interfere at the preliminary stage of the case and directed that the police investigation into the incident should continue.