Kerala High Court

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala High Court has upheld the decision of a Thiruvananthapuram school to expel a Class XII student for hugging a female schoolmate.

The incident had taken place on July 21, when the 16-year-old hugged the girl from Class XI who won a prize in an art competition. The boy had also uploaded the pictures on social media, which irked the school authorities, who claimed that he had breached the school’s disciplinary rule by doing so.

The student’s parents then approached the court challenging their son’s expulsion. The Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights had also stated two months ago during the hearing that the child is allowed to sit for classes in the school.

However, the court recently held that the institution’s head was the guardian of the school and it was the principal’s responsibility to maintain decorum and ‘morality’ inside the school, adding that the child’s rights body cannot interfere in the issue.