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The Allahabad High Court has directed the Amity International School, Lucknow to consider exemption of the fee of a student with special needs for the lockdown period.

The bench of Justice Abdul Moin observed, “The child is one of special needs and there was no special educator admittedly in the school since March, 2020, as such even if the online classes were held the same could only have been attended with difficulty, if at all by the child concerned.”

The child, namely Rajanya Kumar Pal through his father Advocate Krishan Kanhaya Pal had approached the high court against the non-issuance of his certificates of Class III and Class IV by the school.

The child, through his petition, had also prayed for the appointment of a special educator in the said school in pursuance of the circulars issued by the Central Board of Secondary Education which mandate appointment of special educators.

The child, who was in Class II in March 2020 had alleged that when the nationwide lockdown was imposed in March 2020, online classes were started by the school which he continued to attend till June 2020.

However, claiming that there was no special educator in the school since March 2020, the child had argued that the school was not correct in charging the school fee from him for Class III and Class IV.

On the other hand, the school had opposed the child’s prayers stating that as this child with special needs was admitted to the school, therefore, the arrangements as per his need were also made available through online means.

The school had claimed that in order to ensure the same, online classes were held with the help of a special educator, who was taken from sister school as the special educator who was with the school, resigned suddenly in March 2020 and no new appointment could take place till recently.

However, the school submitted that a special educator has been appointed in the school in the last week of February 2022 and is expected to join within ten days.

After perusing the records and hearing the arguments forwarded by both the parties, Court noted that the main issue in the case was that if the certificates of Class III and Class IV were to be issued to the child, as he had prayed, the question about the payment of the fee would arise.

Court said that as there was no special educator admittedly in the school since March 2020, then the child must have faced difficulty in attending the same. Therefore, Court asked the school to consider the exemption of the fee for the child.

The matter will be next heard on March 11. 

Case Title: Rajanya Kumar Pal Through Its Father Krishan Kanhaya Pal v. UOI