The High Court has ruled that a private educational institution cannot dismiss or remove a teacher from service without prior approval from the education board’s Appeals and Arbitration Committee.
The court said any decision by a governing body to impose the serious disciplinary penalty of dismissal or removal must first be reviewed and approved by the committee. Such a decision cannot take effect before receiving the board’s final approval.
The ruling came after the High Court dismissed a rule issued in response to a writ petition challenging the education board’s refusal to approve the dismissal of a college teacher over allegations of misconduct.
In its judgment, the court said private colleges must strictly follow the relevant regulations and the principles of natural justice when dismissing or removing a teacher. It observed that dismissing a teacher without giving them an adequate opportunity to show cause, or hastily forming an investigation committee based merely on verbal or mobile-phone instructions, is wholly without lawful authority and illegal.
The observations came in the case of Md Akhtaruzzaman vs the State and Others.
A High Court bench comprising Justice Md Sohrawardy and Justice Dihidar Masum Kabir delivered the judgment on July 7. The judgment was published on Monday, August 31. Justice Dihidar Masum Kabir wrote the main judgment.
Lawyer Md Kamruzzaman appeared for the writ petitioner during the pronouncement of the judgment. Lawyer Md Zahirul Islam represented the college teacher, while Deputy Attorneys General Md Anisur Rahman Khan and Sultan Mahmud Banna represented the state.
In the judgment, the court upheld the decision of the Appeals and Arbitration Committee of the Dhaka Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education rejecting the dismissal of Md Abul Mansur, an assistant professor of mathematics at Gachihata College in Katiadi upazila of Kishoreganj. The committee had also ordered that he be reinstated and paid all outstanding salaries and allowances as well as his post-retirement benefits.
According to case records, on November 9, 2014, Zakia Begum, headteacher of Gachihata Rural Academy in Katiadi, Kishoreganj, lodged allegations of unethical conduct or misconduct against Abul Mansur.
The complaint alleged that Mansur went to Zakia Begum’s house at around 10:30am that day. According to the complaint, he initially went there saying he wanted to return a book to Zakia’s daughter. He later returned with an improper intention, sat beside her younger daughter and touched her head and hand. The complaint also alleged that he attempted to enter the house for a third time.
Following the complaint, the college principal issued Mansur a show-cause notice on November 17, 2014. According to court records, the first notice incorrectly mentioned November 7 as the date of the alleged incident and asked him to respond within three days.
Mansur replied the following day, admitting that he had gone to the house but denying any improper intention or unethical conduct.
After finding his explanation unsatisfactory, the governing body decided on November 29 to issue a second show-cause notice containing five specific questions. In his reply submitted on December 6, Mansur again denied the allegations against him.
The next day, on December 7, the principal formed a three-member investigation committee following verbal or mobile-phone instructions from governing body chairman and college founder Md Akhtaruzzaman.
According to court records, the committee completed its investigation and submitted its report in just six days, in violation of the applicable rules.
Based on the investigation report, the governing body decided to dismiss Mansur at a meeting held on January 31, 2015. The dismissal was shown as effective from February
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