Chhattisgarh HC stays women commission’s order, questions its jurisdiction

RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh High Court has stayed the State Women Commission’s order to register a case under various sections of the IPC against a senior journalist who questioned “the eligibility” of a private school teacher been appointed in an official position of the government tourism board.

The teacher Anuradha Dubey filed a written complaint against the editor of newspaper Bastar Bandhu Sushil Sharma who published a report to reveal how she acquired the government post despite being "underqualified." The Commission took cognisance of the complaint and passed the order on November 10 to file an FIR against him. The police were asked to take him into their custody.

Sushil Sharma filed a petition in the High Court against the order citing that the decision was taken with the biased intent and it can only act as the authority to recommend but with no magisterial powers vested with the Commission.

According to the counsel of the petitioner Awadh Tripathi, the court, while acknowledging that the Commission on its own cannot give the directive to the police to register a criminal case and take someone into custody, has stayed its order till the next date of hearing.

Sharma published a news report on how Dubey working in a private music school as dance teacher secured appointment as a public relation officer in the tourism department in 2012 without meeting the eligibility conditions and later her government job, which was on deputation, also got regularised.

“During the earlier BJP regime, the compliant was lodged with the government against Dubey’s ineligible appointment and she was dismissed from the post. However, the present government brought a special proposal in the state cabinet and reinstated her. Later, following the media report carried by the newspaper Bastar Bandhu on her present appointment, she filed a complaint against its editor with the State Women Commission that ordered the police to lodge an FIR”, said the counsel for the petitioner.

The court has also served notice to Dubey on how she returned to the former position in the tourism department now, he said.