Bengaluru:A college cannot hide behind the Linguistic Minority tag and remove employees in contravention to the provisions of the Karnataka Education Act (KEA), 1983, the High Court of Karnataka has said. The submission that the Apex Court in TMA PAI (case) has differentiated unaided minority educational institutions from other educational institutions and therefore, the provisions of Section 98(1) of the 1983 Act cannot be invoked, again is a bit difficult to countenance, the HC said.
"The reason for this is obvious: the 1983 Act is a plenary legislation which enjoys a very strong presumption of validity," the bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Krishna S Dixit said, dismissing an appeal filed by Rajarajeshwari Dental College and Hospital. The college had terminated Dr Sanjay Murgod from service in June 2021 which he had challenged before a single judge bench. The single judge bench had ordered his reinstatement with immediate effect in January 2023. This was challenged in the appeal by the college.
The division bench, in its judgement on the appeal, noted that the provision of Section 98 of the KEA Act which protects employees from termination was still valid. "In the absence of a successful challenge and striking down of the provisions of Section 98 of the Act, their invocability cannot be hibernated on the ground that arguably they are repugnant to the observations of the Apex Court in some decisions," the HC said.