Every school in Haryana, whatever board it is affiliated to, must make sure its complaint system covers bullying and harassment based on gender, gender identity and sexual orientation, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has ordered. The state’s school education department has three months to see it done. The court also told CBSE to enforce its anti-bullying rules in schools under the court’s jurisdiction.
Justice Manisha Batra gave the judgment on 31 October in a petition filed by the mother of a Faridabad student who died by suicide in February 2022. The family alleges he faced sustained bullying at school. The court has protected the identities of the child and the students named in the case.
What the court ordered
- Haryana’s school education department, through district education officers, must make all schools follow the Supreme Court’s guidelines in Sukdeb Saha (2025) and the national Guidelines on School Safety and Security, 2021. Each school’s mechanism and internal committee must expressly cover complaints based on gender, gender identity and sexual orientation. Complaints must be handled quickly and confidentially, and cases that disclose a crime must be reported to the police.
- CBSE must instruct its affiliated schools in the court’s area to strictly follow its 2015 anti-bullying circular (Acad-17/2015) and the Sukdeb Saha guidelines. It must also check the annual compliance reports schools send it, and act on schools that fail.
- The Union government must consider, with NCERT, the petitioner’s suggestions on counsellor-student ratios, training counsellors to support LGBTQIA+ students and sensitisation through the curriculum. It has six months to decide.
The court declined to frame new guidelines, saying the Supreme Court’s are already in force. The problem, it said, is rules that stay on paper. The CBSE circular was in force throughout the time the child is alleged to have suffered.
For parents and students
- Ask your school who is on its anti-bullying committee and how to file a complaint. CBSE’s 2015 circular requires every affiliated school to have such a committee.
- Put complaints in writing and keep a copy.
- If a child is in distress, talk to them, involve the school counsellor and seek help early. Tele-MANAS, the government’s free mental health helpline, is available on 14416.
Source: Punjab and Haryana High Court judgment in CRM-M-49060-2022, Aarti Malhotra v. Union of India and others, decided on 31 October 2026.
