Karnataka HC declines to quash FIR against school after child loses vision in incident in school bus

The High Court of Karnataka has refused to quash a criminal case against a private school in Mandya district, where a class 4 student lost complete vision in one eye after fellow students sprayed coloured sparklers inside a school bus, which allegedly had no attendant to supervise the children.

Citing a series of issues that “cry for investigation”, the court asked whether there was an attendant on the bus, whether a CCTV camera had been installed, and, if so, whether it was merely ornamental or functional. The court also sought to know whether prohibited or dangerous materials were allowed to be carried by children, whether the school had issued and enforced adequate safety instructions, and whether the management had failed in its duty of supervision.

School from Koppa

Justice M. Nagaprasanna passed the order while dismissing a petition filed by Divyajyothi School, Gollaradoddi village, Koppa hobali, Madduru taluk, Mandya. The school had challenged the First Information Report (FIR) registered against it in September 2025.

The contention of the school that the act of causing injury was that of another child, and therefore, the school management must stand completely absolved at the threshold, cannot be accepted at this stage, the court said, while observing that the precise contours of culpability, if any, can be delineated only after investigation. While the school claimed that a CCTV camera was installed in the bus, it was argued on behalf of the complainant that it was not functioning.

“The safety of children in a school bus is not a matter of charity or convenience; it is a solemn obligation mandated under the statute as well,” the court observed while referring to the laws governing schools.

The incident

The incident occurred on August 1, 2025, when the 10-year-old boy was returning home in a school bus belonging to the petitioner-school. During the journey, some children allegedly sprayed coloured confetti or sparklers inside the bus, some of which entered the boy’s eyes. Despite undergoing treatment at multiple hospitals in Bengaluru, the child lost complete vision in one eye and partial vision in the other. Under the norms of disability laws, he has now been issued a certificate assessing his permanent disability at 40%.

“The school may ultimately demonstrate absence of criminal negligence. But that conclusion cannot be recorded today by strangulating the investigation at its inception, especially when the incident has resulted in permanent disability to a child of tender age, yet to behold the full bloom of life, who has been condemned to live with permanent visual impairment,” the court observed.