Delhi HC forms expert panel to decide autistic student’s school

Delhi High Court forms expert committee to determine if an autistic girl can be admitted to GD Goenka School or needs a specialized school.

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday constituted a committee of experts to assess whether an eight-year-old autistic girl is medically fit to be admitted to GD Goenka School or in institutes specially designed for children with special needs (CWSN).

Delhi HC forms expert panel to decide autistic student’s school

A bench of chief justice DK Upadhyay and justice Tushar Rao Gedela ordered the formation of the committee after the school submitted that her studying alongside other students in the class could compromise their safety and will not be in their best interests.

Kamal Gupta, representing the school, showed a senior psychiatrist’s July 17 report which recommended enrolling the girl in a school catering to CWSN.

On the other hand, the girl’s mother, represented by advocate Ashok Agarwal, presented another report which stated that the child was fit to study in an integrated school, provided she received support from a shadow teacher.

“To allay the apprehension in the mind of the appellants, we propose constituting a committee of experts, comprising experts, mother of the child, and the school’s counsellor. The said committee shall clinically examine the child and give its categorical opinion as to whether the child can be admitted in the appellate school or she has to be given admission in a school meant for CWSN,” the court said in its order and fixed August 19 as the next date of hearing.

The court was dealing with the school’s petition against a July 1 order, directing the administration to re-admit the girl, observing that educational institutions are duty-bound to accommodate CWSN, under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act.

Justice Vikas Mahajan had then criticised the school’s failure to provide adequate support to the child, observing that its actions amounted to a denial of the child’s statutory right to inclusive education. The court said that inclusive education under the Act is not a symbolic ideal, but a legally enforceable right.

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, allegedly failed to provide the necessary support, until the family withdrew her admission in January 2023.

In the 2024-25 session, she was again allotted a seat at GD Goenka under the children with special needs (CWSN) category, but the school refused admission. 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 school’s petition before the division bench presented that the single judge bench misunderstood its genuine inability to admit the girl and erroneously created another seat in a private unaided educational institution without its consent or concurrence. It went on to add that the ruling also brushed aside the safety of other children.