Kerala High Court stays suspension of school teacher over VD Savarkar quiz question

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday stayed an order suspending a school teacher, Guruprasad Rai K, over a quiz question prepared by him which named VD Savarkar as a freedom fighter who received the "most severe punishment" from the British [Guruprasad Rai K v State of Kerala]..Justice Viju Abraham said that while the suspension order would be stayed for one month, the ongoing disciplinary proceedings against Rai can continue."I’m inclined to pass an interim order staying the operation of P3 order of suspension for a period of one month. But I'm permitting the disciplinary proceedings to continue," the judge said.The Court's decision came after it considered the nature of the allegations against Rai and the circumstances in which the disputed quiz was prepared and subsequently circulated..The case concerned a question prepared for a school quiz in Kasargode. One of the questions from the quiz reportedly asked was, “Who was the freedom fighter who received the most punishment from the British?” The answer given was VD Savarkar. The State's Education Minister later termed this an intentional distortion of history. An inquiry was ordered, and the school teacher who prepared the question, was suspended on August 9. He challenged the suspension before the High Court, terming it as politically motivated and violative of relevant rules. He contended that his suspension was ordered merely on the basis of the Education Minister's oral instructions, which was not permitted under the rules. Rai further maintained that there was nothing factually wrong with the question and answer in focus, and that his suspension was only ordered because the answer was not palatable to a section of society.He added that the management in the memo of charges had stated that an independent academic expert analysis committee was proposed to examine the historical veracity and academic propriety of the disputed question and answer.The State in its counter affidavit submitted that the question was factually incorrect and that Rai had failed to exercise due care while preparing the question paper.However, the Court noted that even though Rai had set the questions for the quiz, the question paper had been sent to the Assistant Educational Officer (AEO), who did not raise any objections and had circulated the paper to headmasters of various schools for the conduct of the quiz.Thus, considering the nature of the allegations against Rai, the Court held that while the disciplinary proceedings should continue, his continued suspension was not necessary for conducting the enquiry..Advocates KS Bharathan, Aadithyan S Mannali, Ronit Zachariah, Sagith Kumar V, Hemanth H and S Krishna of M/s Lawyer & Lawyer appeared for the teacher.Special government pleader Muhamood TT appeared for the State..[Read Order]