Delhi Police had informed the court that they had five bomb disposal squads and 18 bomb detection teams for more than 4,600 schools in the national capital.
New Delhi, May 1, 2025 – The Delhi High Court has issued notices to the Chief Secretary of Delhi and Delhi Police after a fresh plea accused them of failing to create a proper system to handle bomb threats in schools, despite a previous court order.
Justice Anish Dayal, who heard the matter, expressed concern over the issue, calling it very serious. He stated that repeated hoax bomb threats were disturbing school children, their parents, and teachers, and said such matters needed “urgent attention” from the authorities.
The judge was hearing a contempt petition filed by advocate Arpit Bhargava. He pointed out that the authorities had not followed the court’s earlier order dated November 14, 2024, which had asked them to prepare a complete action plan and “a detailed standard operating procedure (SOP)“ to deal with emergency situations like bomb threats.
According to that order, government and police agencies were given eight weeks to develop and submit this SOP. However, Bhargava said that the deadline ended on January 14, 2025, but no information had been provided regarding any such plan or its implementation.
During the hearing on Thursday, the court asked for a status update and scheduled the next hearing for May 19, 2025. On that date, top government and police officials have been asked to appear in person.
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Bhargava’s lawyer, Advocate Beenashaw N Soni, alleged that both the Delhi government and Delhi Police showed a careless attitude and were ignoring their duty towards public safety.
She told the court that there was an “apparent disregard of the court orders by authorities and ineptness in acting in larger public interest.”
She added that the purpose of the earlier directions was to ensure the protection of children and educational institutions during such emergencies, saying,
“The court’s directions were aimed at ensuring safety and security of school children and educational institutions in the event of bomb threats or similar emergencies.”
The petition also stated, “Continued failure of the contemnors/respondents to implement the directions of this court has left the school ecosystem across Delhi vulnerable to the recurring menace of bomb threats.”
It further argued, “These threats, regardless of their actual veracity, create an environment of fear and panic among children, teachers, and parents. The lack of a standardised response protocol and preventive measures directly endangers the safety and mental health of lakhs of school going children in the capital.”
The contempt plea requested the court to take strict action under the Contempt of Courts Act, and also asked the court to direct the authorities to pay litigation costs to the petitioner as a penalty.
The High Court had earlier said that the SOP must “clearly outline the roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders, including law enforcement agencies, school management and municipal authorities ensuring seamless coordination and implementation.”
The court also noted that hoax bomb threats are not limited to Delhi or even India.
It observed that “Hoax threats, particularly those perpetrated through sophisticated methods such as the dark web and VPNs, were not unique to Delhi or even India and they were a global problem which continued to challenge the law enforcement agencies worldwide.”
In a previous submission, Delhi Police had informed the court that they had five bomb disposal squads and 18 bomb detection teams for more than 4,600 schools in the national capital.
The original case was filed in 2023 by Bhargava after a fake bomb threat was received by Delhi Public School, Mathura Road. Since then, multiple similar hoax threats have reportedly been received by other schools, raising widespread panic and concern among students and parents.
