The
Bombay High Court on Friday directed the Maharashtra government to respond to a
plea filed by an education officer from Thane district seeking a stay on his
suspension following the alleged sexual abuse of two girls at a school in
Badlapur.
The
officer, Balasaheb Rakshe, urged the high court to stay the suspension order
pending a final hearing of his petition before the Maharashtra Administrative
Tribunal (MAT), which refused him interim relief on August 26.
He requested the high court to restrain the state
government from appointing any other officer in the post.
Rakshe
moved the Bombay High Court seeking a stay on his suspension order, claiming
the government order was "politically motivated" and he had been made
a "scapegoat".
A
division bench of Justices A S Chandurkar and Rajesh Patil directed the
government to file an affidavit by September 6 when it would hear the plea.
Rakshe's
advocate, S B Talekar, sought the court to order a status quo until then, but
the court said it would consider the same in the next hearing.
Talekar argued that there was no misconduct on
Rakshe's part and that the government merely wanted to save its face after the
Badlapur incident.
Two
kindergarteners were sexually abused by a male attendant inside a school in
Badlapur.
"The
petitioner (Rakshe) has been made a scapegoat. The government made a statement
first before the media that two education officers have been suspended and then
issued the suspension order," the lawyer said.
Rakshe
had first approached MAT for interim relief for a stay on the suspension order,
which he claimed was arbitrary, discriminatory and malafide.
However,
when the tribunal refused to pass any order granting him interim relief, Rakshe
approached the high court earlier this week.
The
suspension order was "politically motivated", and he was being made a
"scapegoat" in the entire episode, his plea stated.
Rakshe
claimed he found out about the sexual abuse on August 18, and promptly
contacted the Ambernath block education officer, asking him to visit the school
in Badlapur, conduct an enquiry, and submit a report.
The
block education officer submitted a report on August 20, and Rakshe issued a
show cause notice to the school president, secretary and headmaster.
The
notice sought the school's explanation about defunct CCTV cameras on its
premises, the plea stated.
Rakshe
said he had forwarded the enquiry report to the director of education (primary)
in Pune and the deputy director of education (primary) in Mumbai.
"On
August 21, a committee of administrators was set up to manage the school in
Badlapur. The petitioner also directed the headmasters of all primary,
secondary and higher secondary schools to install CCTVs, complaint boxes, and a
students' safety committee," the plea said. Despite taking these measures,
the Minister for School Education announced in the media that the education
officer of Thane (Rakshe) has been placed under suspension, he stated.
"The
petitioner is placed under suspension despite the fact that he is in no way
concerned with the regulation and supervision of pre-primary centres," the
plea said.