A division bench of Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj directed the state government to place its stand on record regarding the reopening of schools and colleges before the next hearing on February 14. (File) The Calcutta High Court on Friday sought a response from the Mamata Banerjee government on a number of PILs seeking reopening of schools and colleges in West Bengal.
A division bench of Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj directed the state government to place its stand on record regarding the reopening of schools and colleges before the next hearing on February 14.
A total four PILs have been submitted in Calcutta High Court regarding reopening of schools. Appearing for one of the petitioners, senior advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya submitted before the court that it is high time schools and colleges in the state reopened adhering to Covid-19 guidelines.
Appearing for the state, advocate general SN Mookherjee told the court that the government is also in favour of reopening schools and colleges but has to be careful while taking such a policy decision so as not to jeopardise the health and safety of students. After hearing the arguments on both sides, the bench directed the state government to inform the court about the steps being taken to ensure safety of all stakeholders and reopen educational institutions.
Meanwhile, teachers at Rabindra Bharati University staged a demonstration on its campus on Friday demanding that schools, colleges and universities be reopened at the earliest.
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