This Article is From Dec 06, 2010

La Martinere student rejoins school after court order

Kolkata: La Martinere student Srijan Banerjee, who was denied re-admission after he failed twice in Class IV, today returned to school after the Supreme Court asked its authorities to take him back and grant him promotion on humanitarian grounds.

"Srijan has joined school today. He has been promoted to Class V in keeping with the orders of the Supreme Court," secretary of the school Board of Governors Supriyo Dhar said.

Nearly seven months ago, Srijan's father Partha Banerjee moved the Calcutta High Court after his class teacher Sanjay Smart allegedly demanded a laptop to promote him to Class V. The high court had ordered that Srijan be re-admitted in the school.

The school had initiated proceedings against Smart and suspended him. He was subsequently arrested by the police.

The school authorities, however, dragged their feet in granting re-admission to Srijan on grounds of 'procedural problems' and had moved the Supreme Court with a special leave petition against the high court verdict.

Asked what steps the school would take to help Srijan re-adjust after missing classes for about seven months, Dhar said, "He will be assessed by his class teacher and the head of the junior school. Whatever needs to be done will be done."

Stating that Srijan scored between 15 to 20 per cent in each subject in the last exam, Dhar said, "Now that he is promoted to Class V, he will have to make a lot of effort to make up. His parents will also have to look into this."
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