Army man challenges transfer for specially-abled son’s school

Mumbai: A Lt Col of the Army has approached the Bombay high court against the Army’s decision to transfer him to Hyderabad on grounds that there is no other institute in India like the current one training his son who suffers from multiple disabilities.

The army officer has mentioned in his petition that a transfer would mean uprooting his son from his current environment and making him forget all that he had learnt so far.

On its part, the court has asked the Army and petitioner to find out within a week an alternate institute in Hyderabad which imparts training as good as the current institute.

Senior counsel Gayatri Singh on behalf of Lt Col A.K. Yadav argued before a division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice M.S .Sonak that the petitioner’s son was around 13-years-old and suffering from three disabilities including blindness, speech impairment and mental retardation.

The lawyer also told the court that the boy was being sent to Helen Keller Institute in Mahape, Vashi, which was training him in a very good manner and there was no other institute that would impart training of this level.

The petition said that while there were other institutes for blind and mentally retarded children, this boy’s case was rare in that he was unable to hear and speak and due to his mental problem, his parents had to take care of his everyday needs, including natural calls. Hence, they wanted him to be trained because it would be difficult to handle him once he grew older.

Military Secretary Branch (MSB) of the Army, which deals with transfers of army men has opposed the petition saying that as per policy, they have already given the petitioner extension for staying in Mumbai and there are institutes in Hyderabad too that train persons with multiple disabilities.

The bench however, asked MSB as well as the petitioner to find out if any alternate institutes were there or not in Hyderabad and inform the court within a week.