Uttarakhand: Police Book 50 People From Sherwood College In Row Over Principals Appointment

Devyani Madaik

December 16, 2020

The Uttarakhand Police on Monday, December 14, booked 50 people from Nainital’s Sherwood College, including the current principal, for not allowing the interim principal to take charge despite the court orders.

An FIR has been registered at Tallital Police Station against the current principal, Amandeep Sandhu, and 50 unidentified persons under sections 147 (punishment for rioting), 341 (Punishment for wrongful restraint) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code reported Hindustan Times.

Over the weekend, the interim principal Dhiraj Emmanuel, along with the police personnel and members of the diocese of Agra (school administration that runs the college), was kept waiting at the gates of the college.

The notice outside the gate read that no one will be allowed inside the campus without a COVID-19 negative certificate. The staff members, when asked to open the gates, refused, citing the current principal’s orders.

The issue came into limelight as Amandeep Sandhu, the existing principal, refused to leave the college, even after being suspended in October by the management over allegations of financial irregularities, of lapses in statutory compliance.

Emmanuel was denied entry in October when he went to take charge. He later moved to the High Court and went again on Saturday with the court’s orders and police protection. But he was denied entry in the campus.

Speaking to the media, Emmanuel said he would go ahead with the legal procedures if Amandeep and the staff continue to prohibit him from taking over his charge. Emmanuel was appointed as an interim principal by the chairman of the Sherwood Diocesan College Society.

Denying all the charges levelled against him, Sandhu told the media that they were all fictitious. Sandhu said a case regarding the Diocesan College Society Chairmanship with authority to appoint the principal of the college has been in the lower court and high court for a few years. Sandhu said the interim principal was appointed bypassing the legal process.

Also Read: Govt Scraps Parliament Winter Session Citing COVID, Opposition Calls It ‘Departing From Truth’

#PoweredByYou We bring you news and stories that are worth your attention! Stories that are relevant, reliable, contextual and unbiased. If you read us, watch us, and like what we do, then show us some love! Good journalism is expensive to produce and we have come this far only with your support. Keep encouraging independent media organisations and independent journalists. We always want to remain answerable to you and not to anyone else.