The court has asked the PWD to find out whether the building was constructed as per the norms laid down by the Rural Development Department or the PWD, the quality of material used in it, quality of workmanship and the general condition of the building, especially keeping in view the fact that it was

constructed in 2001.

Chairman of the Research and Welfare Organisation Sanjay Thakur, who had approached the High Court over the safety of the school building, said in his petition that ever since the middle school in Ghohari, under Arki tehsil of Solan district, was constructed in 2001, local people and social organisations kept raising the issue of the building being unsafe and alleged use of sub-standard material in its construction. When no action was taken on the report of an inquiry ordered by the Governor, the Research and Welfare Organisation approached the court.

Interestingly, says Sanjay Thakur, “Amid all these controversies, the then education minister, I.D. Dhiman, inaugurated the building in a hurry in December, 2003, just a day before the model code of conduct for the Assembly election was imposed in the state.”