Private school asked to stop using govt playground in Ooty

The first bench of Acting Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice PD Audikesavalu passed the direction on hearing a plea by K Usha, a part-time private school teacher from Udhagamandalam.

The petitioner argued before the judges for a direction to The Nilgris district Collector to not allow Shri Santhi Vijay Women’s Higher Secondary School to use a government school’s playground that stretches on a span of 2.4 acres.

“The collector has allowed the private school to use that government school’s playground between 10 am to 1.30 pm. However, the playground is not being used by the students. They are using that ground as a parking area for vehicles,” the petitioner submitted through their counsel Karthik Ranganathan.

The bench expressed dissatisfaction and asked the State how it could allow a private institution to use the government school’s playground.

The HC took a suo-motu cognizance on this issue and directed the district Collector to file a response within three weeks.

The HC has also passed an interim direction restraining the private school from using the playground. The court adjourned the matter to the second week of January 2022.