High Court · 2012

03. An abridged account of the essential facts would provide the bac kdrop. The petitioner, who had joined the KVS on 25.08.1997 at Kendriya Vidyalay a, Wellington, Ooti, Tamilnadu as a Trained Graduate Teacher (Hindi), was, event ually, selected and appointed as Post Graduate Teacher (Hindi). While posted in that capacity at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Kailashahar, North Tripura, he faced two co nsecutive departmental proceedings and was eventually transferred to the KV, Ran gapahar-Cantonment, Dimapur, Nagaland. As the matter rested at that, a memorandum dated 20.10.2009 was issued by the Pr incipal of the Institution, where he had been serving, warning him for his lapse s as a teacher, as it was disclosed to the former (Principal) by the students of Class XII (Hindi) that he was not only a habitual late comer to class, but also did not teach them and instead rebuked them unnecessarily. This was followed by another memorandum dated 26.10.2009 also by the same authority, asking him to a ttend the proceedings of a Preliminary Inquiry Committee on 26/27.10.2009 for re cording his statement in connection with two written complaints from the parents of girl students of Class XII, namely, Ms. Lekhmaya and Ms. Jyoti chhetri and a lso their direct complaint along with that of Ms. Pabitra Kumari of the same cla ss to the effect that he was not only irregular in taking classes, he used to co me very often in a drunken state and apart from not explaining the chapters of s tudy etc., used to exhibit immoral sexual behaviour towards girl students causin g mental stress to them. By the said memorandum, the petitioner was intimated th at the allegations leveled amounted to misconduct warranting disciplinary action under the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 19 65 as well as Article 81(B) of the Education Code of the KVS. According to the petitioner, the members of the Preliminary Enquiry Committee be ing junior to him in service, he expressed his disinclination to participate in the proceedings and instead, by his letter dated 28.10.2009 requested to induct a senior member to be the inquiry officer. Admittedly, thereafter, the Prelimina ry Inquiry Committee enquired into the allegations and submitted its report, whi ch revealed that the accusation of immoral sexual behaviour levelled against the complaint was prima facie proved. The petitioner was, thereafter, placed under suspension on 30.10.2009 and was attached with KV Pasighat (Arunachal Pradesh). The Assistant Commissioner, KVS Regional Office, Silchar, meanwhile constituted the Summary Enquiry Committee on 29.10.2009. This Committee in exhaustive detail s conducted an inquiry into the charge, in course of which statements of the com plainants (girl students) of Class XII, other students of the same class, includ ing boys and girls students of Class X and XI, parents of the victim girls as we ll as the teachers of the institution and the petitioner were also recorded, whe reafter, a report was submitted on 31.10.2009 to the effect that the charge of h is (petitioner) immoral sexual behaviour towards the girl students of KV Rangapa har as made in the complaints was proved.

04. On receipt of this report, a show cause notice was issued to the petitioner on 12.05.2010 forwarding therewith the complaints, facts in support of the charges, statements recorded in the Summary Enquiry as well as the Summar y Inquiry Report. This initiative was taken as on a scrutiny of the materials ga thered in course of the enquiry by the Summary Inquiry Committee as well as othe r documents, records etc, the Assistant Commissioner, KVS Regional Office, Silch ar contemplated action under Article 81(B) of the Education Code. On the receipt of the notice, the petitioner submitted his detailed reply on 29.05.2010, in wh ich he enumerated his pleas of defence as hereinbelow: - i) The allegation of immoral sexual behaviour is false, baseless and manufacture d by a section of the teaching staff of the institution inimically disposed towa rds him and is a result of a deep rooted conspiracy to malign him. ii) The statement of the Principal of the Institution at Rangapahar made before the Inquiry Committee belied the said charge. iii) The inquiry is vitiated by want of fairness as the procedure prescribed the refor by the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965 was not adhered to. iv) The copy of the Preliminary Inquiry Report along with the related records ha d not been furnished to him. v) The charges in the disciplinary proceedings initiated against him in the past also were not proved. The Commissioner, KVS on a consideration of the explanation submitted by the pet itioner while rejecting the same in the face of the overwhelming materials on re cord proving the charge of immoral sexual behaviour towards girl students, by or der dated 20.08.2010 terminated his (petitioner) services by invoking Article 81 (B) of the Education Code. In charting this course, the disciplinary authority i n the facts and circumstances, concluded that it was not expedient to hold a reg ular inquiry under the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965 (hereafter referred to as the Rules ) as it would cause serious embarrassment to the girl students and would also ca use trauma for them because of their tender age. It recorded its satisfaction th at the petitioner was guilty of moral turpitude as he had been found indulging i n immoral behaviour towards girl students. Reference was also made to the direct ions contained in the judgment and order dated 02.05.2003 of the Hon’ble Apex Co urt in SLP(C) No. 9808/2002 (Director, Novodaya Vidyalaya Samiti & Ors. Vs. Sh. Baban Prasad Yadav). The petitioner having unsuccessfully appealed against this order turned to the learned Tribunal for redress.

05. Whereas, the petitioner reiterated his assailment of the termina tion of his services in the same lines as in his explanation to the show cause n otice as above, the KVS, in substance, in its written statement insisted that th e action taken was unavoidably warranted in the prevailing fact situation follow ing the proof of the allegation of immoral sexual behaviour of the petitioner to wards the girl students of the institution. According to it, not only the proced ure prescribed, having regard to the exigency of the situation was scrupulously followed, the petitioner was afforded due opportunity of participating in the pr oceedings culminating in the order of termination of his services. That the prec epts laid down by the Hon’ble Apex Court in Director, Novodaya Vidyalaya Samiti & Ors. Vs. Sh. Baban Prasad Yadav (Supra) had been meticulously followed while a cting under Article 81(B) of the Education Code was emphasized. The learned Tribunal by the impugned judgment and order negated 06. the challenge, and in doing so, exhaustively dealt with the relevant facts more particularly the findings recorded in the Summary Inquiry Report, the reply to t he show cause notice submitted by the petitioner and the reasons scripted by the disciplinary authority in the impugned order of termination as well as by the A ppellate Authority in the order of dismissal of the appeal. It noticed in specif ic terms the finding of the Summary Inquiry Committee that the charge of immoral sexual behaviour leveled against the petitioner was proved beyond any doubt bei ng based on the statements of the victim girls and their parents, other students and teachers of the Institution. It negated any infirmity in the inquiry and af firmed the compliance of the conditions precedent for invoking Article 81(B) of the Education Code.

07. Mr. Roy has urged that having regard to the nature of the charge resort to Article 81(B) of the Education Code has been wholly unwarranted and a s the procedure adopted to enquire into the same was visibly unfair, the learned Tribunal ought to have interfered with the order of termination of the petition er’s services. While contending that an inquiry under the Rules was called for, the learned Counsel, in the alternative, has argued that the materials purported ly assembled in the Summary Inquiry did not prove any charge of immoral sexual b ehaviour of the petitioner towards the girl students of the Institution and, thu s invocation of Article 81(B) of the Education Code was obviously illegal render ing the impugned action null and void. Mr. Roy elaborated by contending that eve n assuming that the petitioner was not exemplarily regular in his teaching assig nment and did not exhibit the ideal conduct of a teacher, by no means he could h ave been condemned to be guilty of moral turpitude to be ousted by adhering to a summary procedure as done.

08. Mr. Biswas, per contra, has argued that in the face of the prove d charge of immoral sexual behaviour of the petitioner towards girl students, th e impugned decision cannot be faulted with more particularly as he inspite of ha ving been accorded due opportunities in the process failed to defend himself aga inst the patently nauseating accusations.

09. The pleadings on record and the documents in support thereof tog ether with the arguments advanced have received our conscious consideration. Art icle 81(B), which occupies the center stage of the debate for ready reference de serves extraction at the threshold as hereunder: - (cid:28)81(B) termination of services of an employee found guilty of immoral behaviour towards students: Where the Commissioner is satisfied after such a summary enquiry as he deems pro per and practicable in the circumstances of the case that any member of the Kend riya Vidyalaya is prima-facie guilty of moral turpitude involving sexual offence or exhibition of immoral sexual behaviour towards any student, he can terminate the services of that employee by giving him one month’s or three month’s pay an d allowances accordingly as the guilty employee is temporary or permanent in the service of the Sangathan. In such cases, procedure prescribed for holding enqui ry for imposing major penalty in accordance with CCS(CCA) Rules, 1965 as applica ble to the employees of the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, shall be dispensed wit h, provided that the Commissioner is of the opinion that it is not expedient to hold regular enquiry on account of embarrassment to student or his guardians or such other practical difficulties. The Commissioner shall record in writing the reasons under which it is not reasonably practicable to hold such enquiry and he shall keep the Chairman of the Sangathan informed of the circumstances leading to such termination of services. (cid:29) The salient facets of this provision which empowers the Commissioner of the KVS to terminate the services of an employee as envisaged therein can be enumerated as hereunder: i) Satisfaction of the Commissioner after a Summary Inquiry as deemed proper and practicable in the circumstances that any member of the Sangathan is prima-faci e guilty of moral turpitude involving sexual offence or exhibition of sexual beh aviour towards any student. ii) In such an eventuality procedure prescribed for holding inquiry for imposing penalty in accordance with the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965 can be dispensed with, if the Commissioner is of the opinion that it is not expedient to hold regular inqu iry on account of embarrassment to the student or his guardians or for such othe r practical difficulties. iii) The Commissioner would record reasons in writing for which it is not reason ably practicable to hold such inquiry and he would keep the Chairman of the Sang athan informed of the circumstances leading to such termination of services. iv) The termination may be effected by giving one month’s or three months pay an d allowances to the employees accordingly as he/she is temporary or permanent in the service of the Sangathan.

10. The admitted facts reveal that a summary inquiry was held into t he accusation of immoral sexual behaviour of the petitioner made by the parents of two girl students of Class XII in writing and direct complaints made by these students and another colleague of theirs. Prior to the Summary Inquiry a Prelim inary Inquiry was held, in which the imputation leveled against the petitioner w as prima facie found to be proved. The Assistant Commissioner, Silchar Regional Office, Silchar noticing, amongst others the finding in the Preliminary Inquiry that the imputation of immoral sexual behaviour leveled against the petitioner w as prima-facie proved, ordered the Summary Inquiry by a Committee comprised of t he Education Officer, KVS, RO, Silchar, Principal, KV Kunjaban, Agartala and PRT , KV, Rangapahar. This Committee, as the record would reveal examined the victim girls, their parents, the other classmates, students of the school and the teac hers thereof, who submitted written statements in support of the charge. The sta tement of the petitioner was also recorded, who have denied the indictment to be false and forged. The Summary Inquiry Committee in its report detailed the exer cise undertaken by it stage by stage and dealt with the materials gathered in th e process and arrived at the unanimous conclusion that the charge of immoral sex ual behaviour against the petitioner had been proved. The petitioner’s explanati on to the show cause notice accompanying the complaints and the statements recor ded in the Summary Inquiry Report of the petitioner are, in essence, reiteration of his plea of a conspiracy deliberately plotted to condemn him. As the impugne d order of termination of his services would disclose, the disciplinary authorit y not only applied its undivided attention to the overall materials on record ha ving a bearing on the charge, it recorded its satisfaction as well that a regula r inquiry was not expedient as the same would result in embarrassment to the stu dent and also cause trauma because of their tender age. Concluding that the peti tioner was guilty of moral turpitude by his abominable conduct by indulging in i mmoral behaviour towards girl students, the order of termination of his services under Article 81(B) of the Education Code was passed. Departmental Appellate Au thority also affirmed the above determination of the disciplinary authority.

11. It would be appropriate to extract the relevant portion of the r eport of the Summary Enquiry Committee taken note of by the disciplinary authori ty in justifying its action as hereunder: - (cid:28)On enquiring individually, all the victim girls who confirmed that the accused Shri RK Tahkur frequently is in the drunken state and rarely comes to the class for teaching Whenever, Shri Thakur comes to the class he misbehaves with the girl students by placing his hands on the different parts of their bodies like cheeks, shoulder, back, around the neck and squeezes, used to beat on the back, tries to beat on the front side, coming close while talking, tries to touch front side etc. While enquiring with the three mothers of girl students separately, they reveale d orally many more things during their deposition they confirmed that alleged mi sbehaviour by Shri RK Thakur was narrated by their daughters with heavy hearts a t home. Further they also accepted that Mr. Tahkur visited their houses during l ast three days and threatened them to dire consequences in future because Shri T hakur, Principal, KV Rangapahar is very close friend of Shri RK Thakur. The committee approached almost all the teachers to know the general behaviour o f the said teacher and found that most of the time Shri Thakur interferes with o ther activities, comes with alcoholic effect, chewing tobacco and some time beha ves in proper way with girl students. His behaviour towards girls are embarrassi ng and not as per code of conduct. Principal, KV Rangapahar also admitted that Shri RK Thakur is irregular in submi tting the teachers diary and he does not teach the students with interest and no t explaining the things properly. On the basis of the documents, deposition of all concerned; the written statemen t of charged officer and findings of the summary inquiry committee a conclusion is drawn that the charges contemplated against Shri RK Thakur are sustained. Keeping in view of the findings of the aforesaid inquiries the AC Silchar Region recommended that the action under Article 81(B) of the Education Code may be ta ken against Shri RK Thakur, PGT (Hindi) KV, Rangapahar. (cid:29) & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & & &. (cid:28)Since it was a case of immoral behaviour of a teacher towards girl students and it was not expedient to hold a regular inquiry under the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965 as it would cause serious embarrassment to the girl students and could also caus e trauma for them because of their tender age. Accordingly, holding of a regular inquiry for imposing major penalty in accordance with the CCS (CCA) Rles, 1965 as applicable to employees of KVS is dispensed with. Therefore, the contention o f charged officer that the inquiry was not conducted in accordance with CCS (CCA ) Rules, 1965 is not tenable. The undersigned being the Competent authority, after going through the records o f the case is satisfied that Shri RK Thakur PGT (Hindi) KV, Rangapahar is guilty of moral turpitude as he has been found indulging in immoral behaviour towards girl students. It is also held that the conditions mentioned under Article 81(B) of the Education Code for Kendriya Vidyalayas are satisfied in the present fats and circumstances of the case. It is pertinent to mention that the Hon’ble Supreme Court, vide its judgment dat ed 02.05.2003 in SLP(C) No. 9808/2002 filed by the Director, Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti 7 Ors. Vs. Sh. Babban Prasad Yadav has held that the following preconditi ons are required to be satisfied before the charged Officer is terminated by the Competent Authority in exercise of such powers under the relevant rules: - i) Holding of summary inquiry. ii) Findings in such summary inquiry that the charged employee was guilty of mor al turpitude. iii) Satisfaction of the Disciplinary Authority on the basis of such summary inq uiry that the Charged Officer was guilty. iv) Satisfaction of the Disciplinary Authority that it was not expedient to hold an inquiry on account of serious embarrassment to be caused to the students on their guardians/Parents or such other practical difficulties. v) The recording of the reasons in writing in support of the aforesaid. The undersigned, before exercising the powers conferred upon him under the Rules , has strictly adhered to the requirements of Article 81(B) of the Education Cod e for Kendriya Vidyalayas and has followed the law laid down by the Hon’ble Supr eme Court in the above mentioned case. Now, therefore, I Shri Avinash Dikshit in exercise of the powers conferred upon me under Article 81(B) of the Education Code for Kendriya Vidyalayas hereby term inate the services of Shri RK Thakur, PGT (Hindi) kV, Rangapahar with immediate effect. Shri RK Thakur be paid the pay and allowances as admissible under the Ru les. (cid:29)

12. It is, thus apparent from hereinabove that two inquiries were re sorted to by the departmental authority comprehensively investigating into the c omplaint of immoral sexual behaviour leveled against the petitioner, findings wh erein were duly documented. As alluded hereinabove, in the Summary Inquiry, the statements of the victim girls, their parents along with that of their classmate s and other students of the Institution, the teachers and the petitioner were re corded. The petitioner was also accorded an opportunity of representing against the finding in the Summary Inquiry, which, he duly availed. Having regard to the mandate of the Hon’ble Apex Court as provided in its judgment and order dated 0 2.05.2003, rendered in Director, Novodaya Vidyalaya Samiti & Ors. Vs. Sh. Baban Prasad Yadav (Supra), the process undertaken cannot be repudiated to be in viola tion or disregard thereof. Considering the sequence of the steps taken by the re spondent authorities there is, thus, no reason to differ from the finding record ed by the learned Tribunal that the procedure pursued culminating in the termina tion of the services of the petitioner does not suffer from any legal infirmity. The plea of want of fairness raised by the petitioner, in the attendant facts c ircumstances, is of no significance. We are, as well not wee bit convinced by the petitioner’s plea of the falsity of the charge. It is incomprehensible that girl students of such tender age and th eir parents would impute such a reprehensible conduct of a teacher of a School a nd stand by the same in the inquiry, unless the same is regrettably true. The co mplaints made by the parents on such a delicate issue also authenticate the extr emity of the state of affairs beyond all limits of decency and endurance by the students. The fact that the male colleagues of the victim girls of the same clas s have endorsed the correctness of the allegations is of formidable relevance. T he parents have disclosed that the continual lewd disposition of the petitioner has subjected the victim girls to mental distress. The show cause notice address ed to the petitioner was accompanied by the written complaints of the parents al ong with the recorded statements of the victim girls, the students and the teach ers of the institution all affirming the same allegation. The statement of the P rincipal of the School on which the petitioner has sought to rely does not deal with the accusation made and, thus is not of any decisive significance. Judging in the backdrop of the Summary Inquiry Report, the groun 13. d of satisfaction recorded by the disciplinary authority in dispensing with the regular inquiry and the Rules is construed to be adequate and as envisaged in Ar ticle 81(B) of the Education Code. There is nothing on record to demonstrate tha t the prescription contained in the decision of the Apex Court in Director, Novo daya Vidyalaya Samiti & Ors. Vs. Sh. Baban Prasad Yadav (Supra) has not been com plied with. To the contrary, the contemporaneous records evince that the impugne d action is inconformity therewith. To reiterate, the plea of want of fairness i n the singular facts and circumstances of the case cannot be sustained.

14. The penalty of termination of services of the petitioner, in our estimate, is commensurate to the proved charge. As a teacher, the petitioner ou ght to have been an embodiment of all virtues, exhibiting emulable traits of per sonality as the architect of the character and stimulator of the intellect of hi s students. Instead, he shamefully exhibited a diseased state of mind with lustf ul advances towards girl students of his daughter’s age. That his indecent and l echerous doings used to be also in an inebriated condition testifies the level o f his moral debasement. The charge leveled against him having been proved, actio n under Article 81(B) in the prevailing facts and circumstances is legal and jus tified. That in the past, as well, several disciplinary proceedings had been dra wn up against him is a recorded testimony of his controversial image, which is u nbecoming of a teacher by all means.

15. On an overall consideration of the above, we find ourselves in r espectful agreement with the findings recorded by the learned Tribunal. In the e xtraordinary writ jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, t here is no overwhelming reason to intervene and take a contrary view. The petiti on is dismissed. No costs.