Bhiwandi: FIR against private school for defying closure order

An FIR has been filed against an  illegal private school that disobeyed the education department's closure order in Bhiwandi City, Thane District, Maharashtra, police said.  According to education department officials, Thane district has 27 secondary schools and 33 primary ones, which are unauthorised.

On the basis of a complaint from the district education department, a case has been filed under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (Disobedience to an Order Lawfully Promulgated by a Public Servant) against the school administration in Bhiwandi, an official said.

The secondary school, which opened in April 2023, was served a notice by the Zilla Parishad’s education department declaring it illegal and asking it to close down, but the management continued activities, as per the FIR. No arrest is made so far. Zilla Parishad Education Officer (Secondary) Lalita Dahitule told PTI that 27 secondary schools in Thane district are unauthorised. Of them, 17 have given undertaking and the rest are still operational, she said.

hane Zilla Parishad PRO said out of a total of 4,816 schools being monitored by authorities, 3192 are primary schools. The total strength of students in all these schools is 14,18,370.