Overview
- Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan’s January 20 order, released Friday, dismissed the teacher’s writ petition and left intact the Mumbai School Tribunal’s August 2024 decision.
- Parents’ complaints in December 2022 and reported local unrest preceded the school’s January 31, 2023 termination, which took effect February 1 with pay in lieu of a month’s notice.
- The judgment records that the teacher issued a contemporaneous written apology confirming electronic contact and did not retract it until tribunal proceedings began.
- The court rejected the argument that the teacher effectively became permanent before the notice period expired, keeping the case within the probation framework.
- Emphasizing a zero‑tolerance approach to inappropriate contact, the court found the out‑of‑hours messaging and serious age gap sufficient for management dissatisfaction, while noting no WhatsApp chats were on record.