Bombay High Court (HC) asked the state government Friday to accept a dyslexic students online application for admission to first-year junior college. Ava Kaka,who cleared the standard X ICSE exam this year,moved court after the government turned down her online application on June 12. The student of J B Petit School in Fort,who scored above 80 per cent,had uploaded her form for stage 1. However,the authorities refused to accept her subsequent forms saying she could only apply offline. Assistant government pleader G W Mattos said Kaka had not been prevented from applying. He said the government followed the best-five policy best scores in five subjects upheld by Supreme Court. Kaka had taken the exam in five subjects instead of six. Her lawyer Mihir Desai explained she was exempted from taking a second language paper owing to her learning disability. He said the ICSE board had such a provision. The state government contested saying of the 1,50,816 online applications received so far,226 had been filed by disabled students who have taken examination in all six subjects. A division bench of justices Mohit Shah and M S Sanklecha,however,said because other students have not availed the exemption,Kaka should not be denied. It directed the state government to accept her application and her school to process it expeditiously as online admissions close Saturday. HC also said all students who opted for the exemption be allowed to submit online applications. mumbai.newsline@expressindia.com
