HC upholds suspension of teacher by District Collector

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has dismissed a petition questioning the authority of the District Collector in suspending a teacher of government Tribal Residental Higher Secondary School in Kanyakumari, saying the official is the representative of the government.
"The Collector is the officer in charge of all the departments in his district," Justice K K Sasidharan observed dismissing the petition filed by teacher S Rasalam.
The teacher was suspended on March 19, 2013 after he led a group of students of the school to the Collector to plead the case of their Headmaster against whom the disciplinary proceedings were initiated by the District Collector.

The Child Welfare Committee took cognizance of the matter and an FIR was registered by police, following which the teacher was suspended.
The Collector then informed the Director of Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Department whose Director ratified the suspension.
The suspension order, impugned in the writ petition, should be seen in the light of subsequent disciplinary proceedings and the ratification of proceedings by the Director, the Judge said.
It would at least be operative from the date on which it was ratified by the disciplinary authority, the Judge said dismissing the plea to quash the proceedings.
The petitioner had contended that the District Collector was not the competent authority to suspend him and that too without giving opportunity for him to explain.