‘Goonda’ teacher axe gets SC nod

New Delhi, March 2: The Supreme Court has described a Rajasthan teacher who thrashed the school principal as a “goonda” and upheld the inquiry officer’s order sacking him.
The Central Administrative Tribunal and the Jaipur bench of Rajasthan High Court had set aside the sacking.
Satbir Singh Mahla, a math teacher at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Suratgarh, assaulted the principal R.D. Shah in the school office room on February 23, 1999, causing serious injury to his right eye. He submitted a written apology the next day but was chargesheeted and an inquiry was ordered.
Mahla was dismissed on May 1, 2000, following the recommendation of the inquiry officer. The appellate authority rejected his plea against the order.
But the administrative tribunal held that his removal was disproportionate and reduced it to withholding three increments for five years with cumulative effect.
The tribunal reasoned that he had “committed the act of misconduct under mental tension and he had submitted his written apology and that he has a family to maintain”.
The school appealed to the high court, which rejected the plea.
A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court, however, upheld the school’s appeal yesterday, saying it was “unable” to support the judgments of the tribunal or the high court.
“A teacher has to be a role model in society. He is a guru who sets an example for the students. A person who physically assaults the principal of the institution is, in our opinion, not fit to be a teacher. He is more like a goonda.
“In our opinion, therefore, there was no good ground for the tribunal to interfere with the punishment of removal awarded to the respondent,” the court said.
The Telegraph; LEGAL CORRESPONDENT Monday , March 3 , 2008