Members of two churches under the Karnataka Central Diocese (KCD) on Wednesday staged a protest in front of the diocesan office demanding reinstatement of principals of two premier KCD-run schools in the city.
The KCD executive committee had, in July, suspended S Edwin Christopher of the Bishop Cotton Boys’ School and N Shantha Susheela of the St John’s High School pending inquiry into undisclosed allegations.
Responding to questions by DH, which reported exclusively on the suspension, the KCD had termed the development an “internal matter”.
Members of the diocese, which is affiliated with the Church of South India, said despite the KCD’s claim to have constituted panels of inquiry, there was no sign of a fair probe into the allegations. “The committees have not taken the investigation forward. Three months after the suspension, the two principals are yet to be provided an opportunity to explain their positions,” a senior member of the church told DH.
Sources close to Susheela had told DH that she was suspended for having sanctioned fee waivers during the pandemic.
The demonstrators said KCD was “protecting” the principal of the Cathedral Composite PU College and High School, Christy Glory Shanthi, who they alleged was due for retirement this month but had extended her term by a year based on “tampered” birth records. Sources close to Shanthi argued that it was a clerical error. They told DH, in July, that her birth year was wrongly entered as 1962, instead of 1963, in her school admission records in Tamil Nadu.
Published 12 October 2022, 20:30 IST