Supply of faulty tablets to schools: HC wants to hear from BMC

The Bombay High Court today sought to know from Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) if it has taken any step on the supply of defective tablets by a company to students of civic-run schools in two years as alleged in a PIL.
The court said it would implead these schools as party respondent in the petition to hear them, which "would be the right diagnosis and right treatment".
A division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice G S Kulkarni was hearing a PIL filed by city resident Prithviraj Mhaske who alleged a scam in the procurement of tablets and their distribution under a scheme by the civic body.

Mhaske claimed the BMC had awarded the three-year contract of Rs 50 crore to a tablet phone manufacturer.
"In 2015-16, 22,000 tablet phones were given to students in civic-run schools, out of which over 10,000 turned out to be defective. Till date (from 2016) 15,000 phones have been supplied and I have personally learnt from several schools that the phones are not working," Mhaske told the high court.
To this, the bench said it would like to hear what the municipal commissioner has to say about this issue and if any step has been taken by BMC on the issue.

The court directed the petitioner to submit a list of schools where such tablet phones were supplied and have been found to be faulty.
"We will implead these schools as party respondent in the petition so that we can hear them too. That will be the right diagnosis and right treatment," the bench said.
The court will hear the petition after two weeks.