An education officer from Thane petitioned the Bombay High Court today, August 27 for a stay on his suspension order in light of the alleged sexual assault of two girls at a school in Badlapur, claiming the government action was "politically motivated" and he was made a "scapegoat".
The officer, Balasaheb Rakshe, petitioned the high court to postpone the suspension order pending a final hearing of his plea before the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal (MAT), which denied him interim relief on August 26.
He asked the HC to prevent the state government from placing another officer in the position, reports PTI.
Rakshe's petition, filed by counsel Satish Talekar and Madhvi Ayyapan, will be heard in due course by a division bench of Justices AS Chandurkar and Rajesh Patil.
Rakshe had moved MAT for interim relief, claiming that the suspension decision was arbitrary, discriminatory, and malafide.
His appeal indicated that the suspension order was "politically motivated" and that he was being used as a "scapegoat" throughout the episode.
Rakshe claimed he learnt about the sexual assault event on August 18 and immediately phoned the Ambernath block education officer, instructing him to visit the school in Badlapur, Thane district, to conduct an investigation, and submit a report.
On August 20, the block education officer submitted a report, and Rakshe issued a show cause notice to the school's president, secretary, and headmaster.
According to the plea, the notice demanded an answer from the school regarding defunct CCTV cameras on its premises.
Rakshe added that he sent the inquiry 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 these precautions, the Minister for School Education revealed in the media that Thane's education officer (Rakshe) had been suspended.
"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.
