The Delhi High Court has pulled up the city’s Directorate of Education (DoE) for “shirking its responsibility” as it directed the department to file a status report on a petition by schoolchildren demanding that outdoor sports events not be held during Delhi’s most polluted months — November to January.

The bench of Justice Sachin Datta also asked the School Federation of India Games (SFIG) to submit a report, noting that both bodies must take accountability for exposing children to toxic air under the guise of competitive sports.

The DoE’s counsel argued that it was primarily the SFIG’s prerogative to revise the annual sports calendar and that the department would follow suit once changes were made.

Justice Datta, however, rebuked the submission. “You are shirking your responsibility. It is apparent from your submission,” the judge said, asking the DoE whether it acknowledged that children should not be pushed outdoors when pollution peaks.

“You recognise that… then you must plan so that there are minimal or no fixtures during this period,” he added, directing the authorities to begin scheduling games only after board exams from the next academic year.

The court said that while this year’s events may proceed as planned, next year’s calendar must reflect the pollution realities of Delhi’s winters.

During the hearing, lawyers for the petitioners informed the court that the Supreme Court, earlier in the day, asked the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to consider postponing open-air school sports competitions in November and December to safer months.

When the DoE’s counsel said that only a few sports were held outdoors, the petitioners’ lawyer called the authorities “criminally negligent,” stressing that the request was simply to reschedule events from next year, not scrap them.

Filed by 11 minors through their parents, the petition highlights that children — a vulnerable group — are routinely made to compete in severe pollution conditions despite well-established scientific evidence and judicial recognition of Delhi’s recurring winter health emergency.

The plea notes that year after year, authorities conduct zonal, inter-zonal, state and national-level outdoor events during months when air quality is predictably “severe” and “hazardous,” forcing children to undertake strenuous physical activity in toxic air and violating their fundamental rights.

The petition also points out that when it was filed, Delhi was under the GRAP-III emergency plan, with risks of escalation to GRAP-IV, and warns of long-term health impacts such as reduced lung growth, cognitive impairment and cardiovascular strain.

The students have sought a clear directive mandating that all outdoor sports events in the capital be held only in months with demonstrably better air quality — and not during Delhi’s annual pollution peak.