Calcutta HC slaps penalty on headmistress for delaying transfer process

Kolkata: A single judge bench of the Calcutta High Court on Friday reprimanded the headmistress of a leading girls’ school in West Bengal on charges of contempt of court.

A penalty of Rs 10,000 has been imposed on Nirupama Hazra, the headmistress of Harkirtinagar Balika Vidyalaya in East Burdwan district, on charges of contempt of court for not abiding by an earlier court order for initiating the process of transfer of a teacher of the same school on medical grounds.

Pronouncing the order, the single judge bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha directed that either the headmistress concerned will have to pay the penalty within seven days, or the same amount will be deducted from her salary for the next month.

Justice Mantha also gave clear instruction to the District Inspector of Schools on this count.

The matter is related to a transfer petition filed by Hamida Khatun, who had been teaching in the school for the last five year. She is a resident of Gokarna in South 24 Parganas district.

Last year, she had applied for transfer on medical grounds to any school in her home district near to her residence.

“Failing to evoke any response, she made an appeal to the Calcutta High Court to grant her transfer plea. The court in August last year, after examining the relevant documents, had directed the school authorities to initiate the process of her transfer within six weeks. However, nothing was done in this regard since then, prompting Khatun to again approach the court with the contempt of court petition,” Khatun’s counsel Firdaus Shamim told mediapersons on Friday.

Justice Mantha had issued a summon to the headmistress to be present at his court on Friday. As she appeared before the bench, Justice Mantha sought explanations from her about the delay in initiating the transfer process even after a clear order from the court.

However, the headmistress was unable to give any satisfactory reply.

Meanwhile, the District Inspector of Schools informed the court that his office received the necessary documents from the headmistress to initiate the transfer process just a few days back.

Observing that the delay on the part of the headmistress in initiating the transfer process was a clear case of contempt of court, Justice Mantha imposed the penalty of Rs 10,000 on her.