Breaking: Kerala High Court Stays Suspension Of Teacher Over Question About VD Savarkar

The Kerala High Court has stayed the order of suspension of a government school teacher for framing a question about freedom fighter V. D. Savarkar.

The said suspension was ordered under Section 12A of the Kerala Education Act, 1958, following the conduct of the "Social Science Club Freedom Quiz 2026", wherein a tie-breaker question regarding the freedom fighter who received the maximum punishment from the Britishers had the designated answer key as V.D. Savarkar.

Yesterday, the State of Kerala submitted that the answer given by the Petitioner-teacher was unpalatable to a section of society.

On August 13, the Court asked the State to respond to a writ petition filed by an Upper Primary School Teacher who was placed under suspension pursuant to an order issued by the Deputy Director of Education, Kasaragod.

The Bench of Justice Viju Abraham ordered, "I would like to pass an interim order, staying the order of suspension for a period of one month. But I am permitting the disciplinary proceedings to continue."

Advocate K.S. Bharathan appeared for the Petitioner, while Special Government Pleader Muhamood TT appeared for the State

It was submitted by the Petitioner that the impugned order was passed in violation of the provisions of the Act as the impugned order did not specify why the proviso to S.12A(2)(a) of the Kerala Education Act was not resorted to by the 3rd respondent.

The Petitioner contended that proceedings initiated against him were on account of a needless controversy that emanated out of the question aforesaid. Petitioner was being put under suspension because the answer to a question in the question paper was not palatable to a section of society.

Per contra, the State also submitted that there were other freedom fighters who had undergone imprisonment for a longer period compared to Savarkar and cited the names of Udanta Sai and Trailokya Nath Chakravarty.

In its plea, the Petitioner contended that proceedings initiated against him were on account of a needless controversy that emanated out of the question aforesaid. Petitioner was being put under suspension because the answer to a question in the question paper was not palatable to a section of society.

The Petitioner also added that the concerned respondent could not have overridden the proviso of Section 12A(2) in view of the fact that the appointing authority of the petitioner was the 6th respondent – Manager of AUPS, Pallathadka, who was also his disciplinary authority.

Cause Title: Guruprasad Rai K v. State of Kerala & Ors. [W.P.(C) No. 27818 of 2026]