Bhuwaneshwar, October 06: A teacher who eloped with a girl student and sought divorce from his wife, accusing her of inflicting “cruelty” and “deserting” him, got a dressing down on Monday from the Supreme Court (SC), which said the guru from Pathanamthitta district had defied the “sacred teacher-pupil relationship”.
A bench of justices BN Agrawal and GS Singhvi snubbed Kerala schoolteacher Philip Thomas Palamoottil for violating the sacred teacher-student relationship and seeking to divorce his wife, who, incidentally, was looking after his aged mother.
“The finding of the trial court is clear, that you have eloped with your student and both of you are staying together. You have filed a suit for divorce against your wife who is looking after your aged mother,” the anguished bench observed.
“You are a schoolteacher. What is the standard you are setting for society by eloping with your student,” SC asked Palamoottil’s counsel. A Kerala trial court had rejected the teacher’s suit and the Kerala high court concurred with the findings of the lower court, after which he appealed in the apex court.
–Agencies–