CBSE tells school to act against guilty

While former Haryana DGP S P S Rathore is out on bail,there is no such reprieve in sight for the administration of CBSE-affiliated Sacred Heart school,Chandigarh,which has been accused of expelling Ruchika Girhotra for non-payment of fees. The Central Board of School Education,in a directive sent on November 30 has asked the school management to initiate “disciplinary action” against the then school principal,Sister S Sebastina,and other school staff.

The CBSE orders have held Sister Sebastina and school staff accountable for expelling Ruchika without issuing any intimation to her parents over non-payment of fee.Sources in the school board confirmed that the orders were sent after the CBSE’s expert committee submitted its report which stated that Sacred Heart School violated affiliation byelaws in the summary expulsion of Ruchika without informing her parents about non-payment of fee.According to the CBSE affiliation byelaws,disciplinary proceedings range from censure to major penalties like suspension,dismissal or compulsary retirement from service.Fourteen-year-old Ruchika was expelled from the school soon after her father had lodged a molestation complaint against Rathore in 1990.

The Indian Express had on May 28 this year first

reported that the expert committee comprising legal experts,educationists and CBSE officials had found that the school had violated affiliation rules in expelling her from school.

The CBSE issued a showcause notice to the school on January 28,asking why the school’s affilaition should not be withdrawn for its arbitrary expulsion of Ruchika.