Delhi HC directs committee to file steps taken to assess autistic girl’s admission

The HC on August 5 had constituted a committee to assess if the child was medically fit to be admitted to GD Goenka School or to a specially designed institute.

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed the expert committee to file a note indicating the steps adopted by it to assess and conclude that an eight-year-old autistic girl is medically fit to be admitted to GD Goenka School, provided she is supported by a shadow teacher.

The court was dealing with the school’s petition against the single judge’s July 1 order. (Archives)

A bench comprising Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyay and justice Tushar Rao Gedela issued the directive after GD Goenka’s lawyer argued that the expert committee’s report was flawed, biased, and prepared without allowing its counsellor to interact with the child. The counsel further submitted that the assessment was done in a closed room environment rather than in a setting where the child might have been exposed to potential autistic triggers.

In response, the committee’s counsel contended that the report was submitted only after allowing the school’s counsellor to engage with the child, and the decision was taken by a committee of experts in their field.

Considering the contentions, the court in its order said, “We request the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IBHAS) to file a note giving details of the process adopted by the committee for assessment of the child concerned within two days. The counsel for the appellant states that they also need to file an objection to the report as also, to the note that may be filed.”

Even though the court sought the note, it also underscored the school’s obligation to facilitate the inclusion of children with special needs (CWSN) in mainstream education, promoting inclusive learning.

“One thing we may also tell you, the easiest task before the court is to ask the child to be admitted to the school where there are teachers for students with special needs. But one of the tasks which the society should bear is their assimilation with the inclusive school… it’s also as important as your concern that the fellow colleagues are not harmed,” the bench said to the school’s lawyer.

It added, “Just to address this issue, we had composed a committee. That is why we had asked for an assessment. Otherwise, I don’t see any reason to not accept the report, unless of course there are some objections to the report in academic terms or in terms of psychology or psychiatry, saying that a report can’t be accepted.”

The court was dealing with the school’s petition against the single judge’s July 1 order, which directed it to re-admit the girl, observing that educational institutions are duty-bound to accommodate children with special needs under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act.

Justice Vikas Mahajan had criticised the school’s failure to provide adequate support, observing that its actions amounted to a denial of the child’s statutory right to inclusive education.In the present case, the girl was initially admitted to GD Goenka School in 2021. After being diagnosed with mild autism in 2022, her mother requested a shadow teacher or special educator to assist her. The school, however, failed to provide the necessary support, pressuring the family until they withdrew her admission in January 2023.

In the 2024-25 session, she was again allotted a seat at GD Goenka under the CWSN category, but the school refused to admit her. A subsequent allotment at Maxfort School, Pitampura, was also denied. Her parents then approached the Delhi High Court, seeking enforcement of her Right to Education.

The high court on August 5 had constituted a committee of experts to assess if the child was medically fit to be admitted to GD Goenka School or to an institution specially designed for CWSN.