The high court on Friday directed the principal of Shastri Nagar Girls High School in Patna to file an affidavit on the status of encroachment at the institution.

The division bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice Sudhir Singh passed the order on a PIL filed by social activist Vikash Chandra, who is popularly called Guddu Baba.

In a petition filed in 2016, Guddu Baba alleged the school's playground had been encroached upon, depriving the students from being able to play games during school hours. Hearing the petition this January, Patna High Court had directed the district administration to get the playground vacated. Abiding by the court's order, the Patna district administration removed encroachment from the playground in February but the squatters returned after a few days.

Guddu Baba informed the court of the encroachment.

Going tough, the court directed Patna district magistrate Sanjay Kumar Agarwal to remove the squatters, and monitor the situation so that the encroachers did not come back again.

In Friday's hearing, Agarwal filed an affidavit that the squatters were removed on April 26 but claimed the principal expressed ignorance about any encroachment on the playground when the district administration team enquired about it.

Taking strong exception, the bench directed the principal to file an affidavit on the matters, including her ignorance about the encroachment in the school and the current status.

Guddu Baba alleged in court that the principal was shirking her responsibilities. He attached several of her (principal) letters in the document submitted to court that clearly indicated that she was writing letters on the encroachment since 1998 to the district administration, requesting it to be removed.

The case will be heard after the court resumes post summer vacation.