High court reinstates Dalit professor

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat high court has ordered the authorities concerned to reinstate a Dalit teacher who was sacked from Government Arts and Commerce College in Sami town for absenteeism, which he had argued was spurred by the denial of accommodation in the town. As a result, he said he was forced into daily commute from his native place, 120km from Sami.

Assistant professor Vijay Utsav, 39, who worked as a contractual employee with the Sami college in Patan district, was dismissed in November 2020. He was charged with unauthorized absence, attending programmes without permission, and tampering with the leave register. He challenged his dismissal in the high court.

While quashing the dismissal order and ordering Utsav’s reinstatement, Justice Biren Vaishnav on Tuesday directed the authorities to complete the inquiry against him in six months.

Utsav had challenged his dismissal on the grounds that the inquiry committee did not take into consideration the fact that he could not get rental accommodation in Sami town because of caste bias and was forced to commute between Sami and his village Pipan near Sanand. He said the tough commute led to irregular attendance. The inquiry committee had said that this explanation was not “reasonable”. He contended that he was not getting accommodation in Sami because he belongs to a Scheduled Caste community.

Utsav also alleged a conspiracy by his superiors against him because of caste bias. He wrote to the authorities and also said in court that if the state authorities accepted they have failed in their duty to eradicate caste-based discrimination, he will happily resign.

Even after the HC’s order to the authorities to take him back, Utsav appeared unhappy with the outcome of the litigation. He said that the high court has not redressed the root cause of his problem. “Though I have been reinstated, I will have to suffer the same social evil,” he said. “This order does not guarantee accommodation in Sami town. I intend to file an appeal.”

Courtesy : TOI

Note: This news piece was originally published in timesofindia.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Rights.