The Supreme Court of India has ruled that nursery and elementary schools must operate in buildings constructed per local bye-laws. This decision clarifies earlier directives regarding building standards and staircase regulations. The court acknowledged the National Building Code, 2016, allowing modern fire safety mechanisms, thus permitting more flexible building heights under updated local regulations.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India has ruled that nursery and elementary schools must operate from buildings constructed in accordance with local construction bye-laws. The decision, delivered by a bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih, was in response to a plea filed by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) seeking clarification on certain directions issued by the apex court in its April 13, 2009 verdict.
The Supreme Court stated that all nursery and elementary schools should function in buildings that comply with the applicable local building bye-laws.
“The nursery and elementary schools should be housed in the buildings which are constructed in accordance with the local building bye-laws as are applicable in the concerned area,”
the court ruled.
CBSE had sought clarification on an earlier directive that schools should be housed in single-storied buildings and the maximum number of floors should be limited to three, including the ground floor.
Another key issue raised by the CBSE was regarding staircases used as exits or escape routes in school buildings. The 2009 Supreme Court ruling had mandated that staircases must comply with the National Building Code of India, 2005 to ensure quick evacuation of children during emergencies.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the CBSE, argued that many states now allow four- or five-story school buildings with modern fire safety mechanisms. He pointed out that the National Building Code, 2016 came into force after the 2009 ruling, leading to revised and updated building regulations across states.
“There are several states where their building bye-laws permit four-storied, five-storied (buildings) with fire safety mechanisms,”
Mehta said.
He emphasized that CBSE was still following the old Supreme Court directions while processing school recognition applications, which created complications.
“Now the difficulty is, when we get an application for recognition, we insist on the old direction,”
he explained, adding that state building bye-laws, being statutory in nature, should be considered.
In response, the Supreme Court noted that the Centre’s Urban Development Department had filed an affidavit detailing steps taken to ensure fire safety before finalizing the national building plan.
After reviewing the affidavit, the court clarified that school staircases and escape routes should now comply with the Model Building Bye-Laws, 2016, or the local bye-laws applicable in the respective area.
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