Schools must address bullying based on gender identity, sexual orientation: High Court

Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one. Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription Published - November 05, 2026 03:33 am IST - GURUGRAM Punjab and Haryana High Court said the facts of the present case showed that “guidelines which remain on paper offer little protection to a child in distress”. | Photo Credit: PTI The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the Department of School Education, Haryana, and the Central Board of Secondary Education to ensure that all schools situated within the territorial jurisdiction of the court comply with the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in Sukdeb Saha’s case and that the mechanism and internal committee in every school cover complaints of bullying and harassment on the basis of gender, gender identity and sexual orientation. The court gave directions after hearing a petition by the mother of a 16-year-old boy, a student of a prominent school in Faridabad, who died on February 24, 2022, accusing the school authorities and the headmistress of it. Also, his artistic inclination was misunderstood by his peers as being effeminate, and he was bullied and physically and sexually assaulted by a group of students within the school premises, as per the petition. In her petition, the teenager’s mother had demanded laying down of guidelines for sensitisation of the authorities and the educational institutions to prevent harassment of students belonging to the LGBTQIA+ community and ensuring execution of such guidelines in the schools and colleges across the country, besides seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the case. Saying that the prayer for framing fresh guidelines cannot be accepted, the court observed that the Supreme Court in Sukdeb Saha’s case had taken note of the growing crisis of student deaths in the country and, in view of the binding guidelines of the apex court holding the field, no useful purpose would be served by this court laying down a separate set of guidelines on the same subject. However, the court said the facts of the present case showed that “guidelines which remain on paper offer little protection to a child in distress”. “The CBSE circular of the year 2015 was in force throughout the period during which the deceased child is alleged to have suffered. As per the record, the school was informed about his condition by his mother and his treating psychologist,” said the court, saying that the “real issue, therefore, is the effective implementation of the existing guidelines at the level of the schools.” The court directed the Haryana School Education Department to ensure that complaints of bullying and harassment are “dealt with promptly and confidentially, and that the cases in which a cognisable offence is disclosed are reported to the police as required by law.” The order said the CBSE must ensure that the annual reports required to be submitted to it as per the Supreme Court guidelines are called for and duly scrutinised, and that appropriate action is taken in accordance with its bye-laws in case of non-compliance.