Students’ footboard travel taken up suo motu

When the first bench comprising Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M Sundar commenced the proceedings for the day, advocate RY George Williams made a mention of the danger school children travelling by State Transport Corporation buses were being subjected to. 

Also, submitting photographs of the same that had appeared in certain dailies he submitted that school children are travelling not only on the footboard, but also on the roof of the buses and clinging on the windows owing to non-availability of sufficient number of buses. 

Highly disturbed on seeing the photographs, the Chief Justice sought to question the counsel appearing for the STC. She wondered as to how, the state has failed to ply special buses for children. However, directing the public prosecutor to get instruction and making it known that the court was bound to pass certain directions, she said, “Let a suo motu public interest litigation be registered in relation to the dangerous manner in which school children are travelling in the buses. List the writ petition on November 24.”