Supreme Court Revives Case Against Kerala Teacher for Misconduct with Students

New Delhi – The Supreme Court has decided to bring back a case against a teacher from Kerala accused of behaving inappropriately with 52 girl students. The court criticized the high court for dismissing the case, calling their reasoning “insensitive.”

Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh said the school should not allow the teacher to return until the trial is over. They believed the high court made a mistake by examining the evidence too closely and jumping to conclusions too quickly.

The Supreme Court said this situation is a clear example of ignoring the rights of young victims in cases like this. The high court said the teacher hadn’t shown sexual intent, which the Supreme Court disagreed with. They pointed out that the police had already gathered enough evidence to prove that the teacher might have committed serious offenses under the POCSO Act, which protects children from sexual abuse.

It’s troubling, the judges said, that many of the girls involved come from minority communities. They worried that these students might not speak up because of their cultural backgrounds. The teacher had tried to end the case by settling with one of the victims and seemed to have some influence since not all the victims’ statements were taken by the police initially.

The Supreme Court ordered the trial to move forward, ensuring that the victims’ identities are protected and their statements are taken seriously. The police have been told to make sure the teacher doesn’t try to contact or influence the victims.

The teacher allegedly misbehaved by inappropriately touching the students while teaching them how to use a computer mouse and asking strange questions about sanitary napkins. After complaints were made, a school investigation found inappropriate magazines and CDs in the computer lab.

Despite initially apologizing, the teacher’s bad behavior continued, including sending inappropriate pictures to what he thought were the girls’ WhatsApp accounts—some were actually their parents’. Following multiple complaints, he was arrested and several FIRs were filed against him under the POCSO Act.

The teacher tried to dismiss the case after claiming to have settled things with one of the students, but the Supreme Court overturned the high court’s earlier decision, insisting that the case must proceed.