HC directs pvt school in Delhi to grant admission to 8-year-old autistic girl
The family of the girl, admitted in 2021, withdrew her in January 2023 after the school allegedly pressured them and did not provide the required support.
A division bench of the Delhi high court on Tuesday directed a private school in Model Town area to admit an eight-year-old autistic girl within two weeks, upholding a single-judge order that had earlier mandated her readmission after the institution refused her entry under the Children With Special Needs (CWSN) category.
“The appeal is dismissed with a direction to the school to comply with the order and judgment within two weeks from today,” a bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyay and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said, rejecting the school’s appeal against an earlier single-judge directive for the girl’s readmission.
The family of the girl, admitted to the school in 2021, withdrew her 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 the school under CWSN, but the institute refused admission. A subsequent allotment at another private school in Pitampura was also denied, with no reasons disclosed in court records.
Her parents eventually approached the high court, which on August 5 appointed a committee of experts to assess whether the child was medically fit to study at the Model Town school or at a specialised CWSN institution. The committee recommended her admission to the same institute, a finding now challenged by the school.
On July 1, Justice Vikas Mahajan had ordered the Model Town school to readmit the student, ruling that educational institutions are “duty-bound to accommodate children with special needs under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act”.
{{/usCountry}}On July 1, Justice Vikas Mahajan had ordered the Model Town school to readmit the student, ruling that educational institutions are “duty-bound to accommodate children with special needs under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act”.
{{/usCountry}}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.
{{/usCountry}}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.
{{/usCountry}}The school then approached the division bench, challenging the July 1 direction.
{{/usCountry}}The school then approached the division bench, challenging the July 1 direction.
{{/usCountry}}On September 1, the HC rejected the school’s plea seeking the girl’s reassessment 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”.
{{/usCountry}}On September 1, the HC rejected the school’s plea seeking the girl’s reassessment 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”.
{{/usCountry}}The court had turned down the request after the school’s lawyer argued that the previous report of an expert committee was “incorrect” and conducted “in violation of the court’s directions.”
“We don’t want the child to be treated like a guinea pig. We have heard your submissions, your objections; we’ll pass orders,” the court said.
HT has reached out to the Model Town school principal regarding the court order, but yet to receive a response.
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