Delhi High Court issues notice in plea by headmistress claiming she was suspended for not donating towards Ram Mandir

The Delhi High Court on Friday issued notice in a plea filed by the headmistress of a school alleging that she was suspended by the administration for not donating towards the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya [Hema Bajaj v. Rao Mehar Chand Saraswati Vidya Mandir School Bhalaswa and Ors]..Notice was issued by Justice Kameswar Rao, who posted the matter for further hearing on December 17, 2021. .The petitioner submitted that each year, teachers are forced to contribute ₹5,000 as charity in Samarpan account. However, this year, they were asked to donate ₹15,000 for Samarpan and ₹70,000 towards the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.These amounts, the petitioner stated, were beyond her financial capacity, because of her husband's poor health condition and the ensuing medical expenses. Therefore, she refused to pay the said amount and paid ₹5,000 instead. It is claimed that all her requests for exemption from contribution for Ram Mandir were coldly turned down by the school administration. As a result, she stated, the administration harassed her and tried to make her resign from her post.Subsequently, she sent a complaint to the Deputy Chief Minister, Delhi informing him about the harassment she is facing. On the direction of the Deputy CM, the Department of Education initiated an inquiry against the administration..Meanwhile, the petitioner claimed that the school concocted false allegations against her, including that she threatened teachers and made casteist remarks against them. The school also suspended her and initiated a departmental inquiry without any mandatory prior sanction from Department of Education.The plea stated that as per Section 8(4) of The Delhi School Education Act, 1973, if any managing committee intends to suspend any employee, such intention shall be communicated to the Director, and there has to be prior approval from Director for such suspension. Therefore, the petitioner claimed that her suspension was in violation of this Rule..The petitioner sought the High Court's indulgence to quash the suspension orders passed against her by the school administration on false and frivolous allegations.She also sought issuance of directions to the school management to disburse pending arrears of her salary, along with the interest @18% P.A.Apart from the above, the petitioner requested that she transferred to a school run by the society near her residence on compassionate grounds..The petitioner was represented by advocates Shikha Sharma and Khagesh B Jha.