Expelled La Mart boy happy to return to school

“I am very happy to come back to my school. I have seen my friends after so many days. The teachers were very nice to me,” Srijan said, as he returned home from school.

“We have taken him back today (Monday). Srijan will be treated as any other student of the school,” school secretary Supriyo Dhar said. A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court Friday directed the school to take Srijan back and promote him to Class 5.

Earlier this year, Sanjay Smart, one of the teachers of the school, allegedly demanded a laptop from Srijan's parents to promote him to a higher class. Srijan's parents had alleged that when they refused to bow down to his demands, Smart did not allow Srijan to be promoted from Class 4 to Class 5 and got him expelled citing rules and regulations.

Later, Srijan's parents filed a police complaint against Smart, leading to his arrest. But even as Srijan was all smiles, his parents were sceptical about the school’s attitude towards their son.

“For the last few months there was an atmosphere of hope and despair. But I am very happy because my son is happy. However, I personally feel that the school didn’t welcome him wholeheartedly,” Srijan’s father Partha Pratim Banerjee told IANS.

“We have really fought for this day. My son was a bit shaky when he entered school. I hope everything goes well. But as a mother, I felt the body language of the school authorities was not very encouraging,” said Srijans’ mother Mary Banerjee.

The 175-year-old school has grabbed the headlines for all the wrong reasons this year. Alongside the Srijan controversy, La Martinere also courted trouble when a Class 7 student, Rouvanjit Rowla, hanged himself days after he was caned by the school's principal and mentally harassed by three teachers. The four were arrested Oct 4 for

Rowla's suicide Feb 12. The four were given bail the same day. However, a city court last month ordered that the principal and the three teachers be slapped with an additional charge of abetting Rowla’s suicide.