‘You did nothing’: Delhi HC issues contempt notice to KVS for failing to recruit special educators

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has issued a contempt notice to Nidhi Pandey, commissioner of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) for failing to recruit and appoint special educators for CWSN students. The court had given six months, till February 2025, for KVS to complete the recruitment process for 987 special educators posts.

The court order dated August 5, 2024, titled 'Social Jurist, A Civil Rights Group versus Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan & Anr', directed KVS to frame recruitment rules and appoint special educators within six months from the date of the order.

The counsel for Union of India said that the department of school education and literacy has ordered for sanctioning of 987 posts of special educators in Kendriya Vidyalayas on July 5, 2024. The notice further stated that the ministry of finance, department of expenditure had approved the posts for special educators in pay level 6/7.

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“Despite specific orders, you have deliberately and intentionally done nothing even after expiry of 6 months as stipulated in the order,” the bench stated in the legal notice.

Slamming the KV Sangathan for not recruiting special educators, the high court raised concerns about the “suffering” of Children with Special Needs (CWSN) students studying in schools running under Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan.

The court took note of the “deliberate disobedience” of the Delhi High Court orders and issued a legal notice to the KVS commissioner Nidhi Pandey. As per the rules, after receiving the contempt notice, a person is required to appear before the court and if found guilty of charges, they will face penalties, imprisonment, or both, depending on the severity.