Expelled over 'objectionable' Instagram meme, Indore boy gets Supreme Court nod to take Class 10 exams

The top court asked the school and CISCE to ensure that the boy is able to appear in the ensuing examination, scheduled to commence from February 17.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday allowed a boy, rusticated from his school for allegedly circulating an objectionable meme concerning teachers, to appear in the Class 10 examination.

It directed the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) to issue an admit card to him.

A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan noted that the boy has already registered with the CISCE to take the examination and if not allowed, he would lose an academic year.

The petitioner’s counsel Nipun Saxena submitted that the rustication of the minor boy from the school in Indore was a disproportionate punishment.

He said instead of taking reformatory steps, the school simply disassociated him from the school.

The bench said the school should have taken the responsibility to reform the child but it rusticated him just because it was found that "he was a bad boy."

The counsel submitted that the boy has been pursuing his studies privately at home with the help of tutors. School's counsel contended that the boy cannot be pardoned for what he has committed.

The court, however, directed the CISCE to permit the petitioner's son to take the examination by issuing an admit card/hall ticket.

"Having regard to the nature of the controversy, the school is at liberty to permit the petitioner's son to appear and write the examination in a separate room and not with other students," the bench said.

The court also directed the school to conduct an internal assessment for physical education and socially useful productive work (SUPW) at the school and submit the assessment marks to CISCE.

The bench asked the school and CISCE to ensure that the boy is able to appear in the examination, beginning from February 17.

On February 6, the court sought response from the Madhya Pradesh government and others on a plea by the father of the minor boy.

The plea challenged an order of November last year of the High Court which upheld the school's decision to terminate the 13-year-old student in the midst of his Class 9 academic session of 2024-2025.