Expelled for smoking hookah, class 9 student moves HC against school
New Delhi
A class 9 student of a south Delhi school has moved to the Delhi High Court, challenging the decision of the principal to expel him from school after he was shown smoking hookah in a video with another friend at a birthday party.
The boy belonging to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS), through advocate Ashok Agarwal, said he was attending classes till October 8 after which he was disallowed to attend school on the alleged ground that he was seen smoking hookah in a video of August 2019.
The plea said that the boy’s parents were called to the school on October 9, where they also expressed their regret for the incident and also assured that their son would not indulge in any such activity. However, the principal disallowed to attend the classes.
The petition, which is likely to come up for hearing on Monday, said the parents were called again on October 18 and asked to withdraw their ward from the school. It said that even though he was allowed to take the exams on October 24 and October 25, but he has not been allowed to attend classes and “arbitrarily” kept out of school resulting in “agony” and “harassment” to the boy and his family members.
The plea said that even though no written order has been passed by the school with regards to expulsion of the student, he is still not being allowed to attend classes. It also contended that the school is on public land and hence the student belonging to the EWS category is entitled to attend the school till class 12 under the provisions of Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.
The petition also contended that a letter was also sent by advocate Agarwal to the principal requesting the school to allow the student to attend the classes but till date no reply has been received from the school authorities.