Delhi HC refuses GD Goenka plea for autistic child’s reassessment

The girl joined GD Goenka in 2021 but was withdrawn in Jan 2023 after her family alleged the school pressured them and failed to provide needed support.

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday rejected GD Goenka’s plea seeking reassessment of an 8-year-old autistic girl to determine whether she could study in a regular school or an institution for children with disabilities, saying the child could not be treated like a “guinea pig”.

The bench turned down the request after the school’s lawyer argued the previous report of an expert committee was “incorrect.” (Shutterstock)

A bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyay and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela turned down the request after the school’s lawyer argued the previous report of an expert committee was “incorrect” and conducted “in violation of the court’s directions.” The lawyer submitted that the girl had been assessed “in a closed room environment” with her mother allegedly “prompting answers” and without the school’s counsellor present.

Rejecting the contention, the bench said, “We don’t want the child to be treated like a guinea pig. We have heard your submissions, your objections; we’ll pass orders,” while reserving its verdict on the school’s appeal against a single-judge order directing it to admit the girl.

On July 1, Justice Vikas Mahajan had ordered GD Goenka to re-admit the student, ruling that educational institutions are “duty-bound to accommodate children with special needs under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act.” The single judge held that the school’s failure to provide a shadow teacher or special educator, despite the mother’s request after the child was diagnosed with mild autism in 2022, amounted to a denial of her statutory right to inclusive education.

The girl, admitted to GD Goenka in 2021, was withdrawn by her family in January 2023 after the school allegedly pressured them and did not provide the required support. In the 2024-25 academic 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, with no reasons disclosed in court records.

Her parents then approached the high court, which on August 5 appointed a committee of experts to assess whether the child was medically fit to study at GD Goenka or at a specialised CWSN institution. The committee recommended her admission at GD Goenka, a finding now challenged by the school.