Calcutta, April 1: A government-aided school in West Midnapore has been rapped by Calcutta High Court for siring the mother of all paradoxes: denying five orphans admission for failing to bring their parents along.

The court today asked Dudhbuda Gramsabha Tribal School in Keshiary to take in the children within a week in keeping with the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.

“Inform us within seven days whether your client is ready to admit the students or not. If not, the court will have to direct the district inspector of schools to take appropriate action,” a bench comprising Chief Justice J.N. Patel and Justice A.K. Roy told R. Sanyal, the lawyer appearing for the school.

The order followed a petition by the Gilgal Children’s Home, the orphanage where the five children stay. “Five inmates — Souri Hansda, Gopi Mandi, Hannan Murmu, Meghlal Hansda and Hapna Hembram, all aged below 14 years, had applied for admission to the school. But they were not given admission as the orphaned children could not bring their parents along,” the orphanage authorities said in its petition filed on March 4. The children had sought admission in classes V to VIII.

The court had admitted the petition but asked the orphanage to first get itself registered with the district-level children welfare committee.

After obtaining the approval of the committee, the orphanage today approached the high court. Saptanshu Basu, the lawyer appearing for the orphanage, told the court: “The school cannot deny admission to the poor tribal orphans as it amounts to violation of the right to free and compulsory education act.”

Sanyal, the school’s counsel, said that according to the institution’s rules, “the signature of parents is mandatory” at the time of admission. “Normally, the school considers the parents as guardians and contacts them in case of emergencies. An orphanage cannot be a guardian.”

The court, however, upheld Basu’s argument.