Land owner willing to give land for school, HC seeks Delhi govt's response

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought a response from the Delhi government in connection with a petition filed by the family of a land owner willing to transfer ownership of land to the Delhi government to build a government school on the said land.

A bench of Justice Prathiba M Singh issued notice to the Arvind Kejriwal-led government on a plea moved by the two sons and a daughter of Mansa Ram willing to transfer ownership of land measuring 5,000 square yards situated in Karawal Nagar area to the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCT) to build a government school. The court, while slating the matter for April 30, also directed the Delhi government to consider the matter expeditiously.

The petitioner family submitted that the land originally belonged to Mansa Ram who died on September 21, 2009, leaving behind the petitioners as his legal heirs. It is submitted that the petitioners are the joint owners of land and are legally entitled to transfer ownership rights of the same to the respondent government. The plea claims that the petitioner had sent a request letter in 2019 to the Delhi government, thereby requesting them to transfer ownership of the said land from the petitioners to themselves but unfortunately the ruling dispensation in the national capital hasn't decided till date.

Advocate Ashok Aggarwal, counsel for the petitioner, submitted that such inactions are bad in law as much as the same is violative of right to education of thousands of students of Karawal Nagar wishing to get admitted in government school as guaranteed under Article 21 of Constitution of India. The petition also states that the respondent government ought to have accepted the offer having been given by the petitioner in the public interest as the Delhi government needs a lot of land to build government schools. In the petition, it has been submitted that there is an urgent need for a government school in the Karawal Nagar area as it is densely populated. A large number of students want to shift from private schools to government schools as the parents, particularly during a pandemic, are unable to pay children's school fees.

"It is unfortunate that the respondent government is totally irresponsive to the call of petitioners for transferring ownership of land from petitioners to the respondent government and to build a comprehensive Senior Secondary School," stated the petition.