On November 25, 2024, the Supreme Court told the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to quickly decide whether to relax rules that stopped schools and colleges from holding in-person classes in Delhi and nearby areas.
The judges, A.S. Oka and Augustine George Masih, made it clear that they wanted a decision by the evening of the same day or by the next morning at the latest.
The Supreme Court noticed that many young students, including those in primary classes and anganwadis, missed out on important meals provided at school. Also, a lot of students couldn’t take online classes because they didn’t have the necessary equipment at home. For some, staying at home was just as bad as going to school since they didn’t have air purifiers.
The Court said it was up to the CAQM to decide if students in Classes 10 and 12 could return to in-person learning. Many students do not have access to online learning, which is a problem.
The judges highlighted that from November 20 to November 24, the air quality in Delhi was really bad, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) ranging between 318 and 419. They instructed CAQM to provide updated air quality information by the next court meeting on November 29.
The Court was unhappy that police were not doing their job correctly at the borders of Delhi to stop polluting vehicles, especially big trucks, even after a ban was put in place on November 18. The judges asked CAQM to take action against those responsible for this under the law.
The judges also acknowledged that the air quality restrictions were impacting the work of many people, like construction workers and daily earners. They ordered the governments in and around Delhi to provide support to help these workers during this tough time.
Finally, the Court reminded CAQM that they had the power to take steps to help these workers and ensure they didn’t suffer due to these restrictions
