HC asks govt, police to ensure security at centres till board exams are over in northeast Delhi

The Delhi High Court directed the AAP government and the police on Wednesday to ensure there is no breach of security at board exam centres till all the examinations are over in northeast Delhi where violence over the amended citizenship law has left at least 42 people dead and over 250 injured.

Justice Rajiv Shakdher asked the police to continue providing security till the board examinations of class 10th and 12th are over.

The court passed the direction while disposing of a plea by a private school here that the centre allotted to them by the CBSE was 16 km away from their school and situated in Chandu Nagar-Karawal Nagar road, one of the violence-hit areas and it was difficult for the students to reach there and write the exams in such a situation.

The court had earlier also directed the Delhi government and the police to ensure that there is no breach of security at board exam centres in northeast Delhi.

Advocate Kamal Gupta, appearing for private school Bhai Parmanand Vidya Mandir at Surya Niketan in east Delhi, told the court that with the presence of police officials outside the centres, the exams were held peacefully.

The CBSE had on February 28 told the court that it had postponed the board exams for class 10th and 12th which were to be held on February 28 and 29 at 86 centres in north east Delhi.

The board had told the court that it had no plan to shift the centres to some other location in the national capital.

The court had earlier taken note of the "worsening situation" in the area and had directed the CBSE to come up with a plan to re-schedule them or change the affected centres.

The petitioners, including some students of class 10 and 12, have said it would be hard for them to reach the Centre due to violent clashes and riots in the area.

They had urged the court to direct the CBSE to change the examination centre from New Sandhya Public School to a centre located in east Delhi district with proper infrastructure and security.