DEEPAK AGRAWALversusSTATE OF U.P. AND 3 OTHERS

           HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
                            WRIT - A No. - 14887 of 2026

Deepak Agrawal
                                                                          .....Petitioner(s)
                                         Versus

State Of U.P. And 3 Others
                                                                        .....Respondent(s)

Counsel for Petitioner(s)             : Alok Kumar Gupta, Arun Kumar
                                        Srivastava
Counsel for Respondent(s)             : Adarsh Singh, C.S.C., Harsh Vardhan
                                        Gupta

Court No. - 52
               HON'BLE MRS. MANJU RANI CHAUHAN, J.

1. Learned counsel for the petitioner has filed supplementary affidavit in
the Court today, which is taken on record. Office is directed to register the
same.

2. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner, learned Standing Counsel for
the State, Mr. Harsh Vardhan Gupta, learned counsel for respondent nos.3
and 4 as well as Mr. Adarsh Singh, learned counsel appearing on behalf
of the complainant.

3. The instant writ petition has been filed with the following prayers:

"i) to issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of Certiorari quashing the impugned
order dated 27.08.2026 passed by respondent no.4 District Basic Education Officer,
Hapur;
ii) to issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of Mandamus commanding the
iii) issue a writ, order or direction as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper
under the facts and circumstances of the case.
iv) Award the cost of the writ petition in favour of the petitioner."

4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that a complaint was made
on 29.12.2025 by one Assistant Teacher, namely, Pooja Sharma against
the petitioner who was working as Headmaster in the institution in
question where she is working as Assistant Teacher, with the allegations
regarding behaviour of the petitioner, asking to send personal message for
                                                         WRIA No. 14887 of 2026
                                 2


taking leave, stalking the concerned teacher and sexual harassment before
the District Magistrate, District-Hapur. He further submits that the
concerned District Magistrate on the aforesaid complaint dated
29.12.2025 itself as annexed on on page no.16 of the writ petition,
mentioned the following:

"Issue appears to be of a serious nature, fit to be examined by ICC framed under
POSH rules. Conduct a thorough inquiry & provide ATR."

5. On the aforesaid, a Committee was constituted, which has submitted a
report on 19.08.2026, concluding that no allegations as made by the
concerned Assistant Teacher are proved, however, on the another
application moved on the portal before the Hon'ble Chief Minister, the
same was placed before respondent no.1-Addl. Chief Secretary, Basic
Education U.P., Lucknow on whose instance, the impugned order dated
27.08.2026 has been passed, transferring the petitioner to Composite
Vidyalaya Nyaazpur Khyaa, Vikas Kshetra Simbhaoli, Hapur. Learned
counsel for the petitioner further contends that in the inquiry as conducted
by the concerned department also, the charges as levelled by the
concerned teacher have not been proved. The transfer order has been
passed at the dictates of respondent no.1-Addl. Chief Secretary, Basic
Education U.P., Lucknow, who does not have any jurisdiction to dictate
about the aforesaid to the concerned District Basic Education Officer who
is the competent authority to look into the transfer of the petitioner after
any such application is moved online. Thus, the order impugned has been
passed without independent application of mind.

6. Learned counsel for the petitioner has placed order dated 17.04.2026 as
Annexure No.1 to the supplementary affidavit filed today. The said order
has been passed by the Regional Assistant Director of Education (Basic),
First Region, Meerut stating that the transfer of any teacher can be done
only on the basis of online process on the administrative side. The
aforesaid has been reiterated by the concerned District Basic Education
Officer by his order dated 13.04.2026. Despite the aforesaid, the transfer
order has been passed, which is in violation of the orders passed by the
District Basic Education Officer as well as the Regional Assistant
Director of Education (Basic), First Region, Meerut, therefore, the
                                                                         WRIA No. 14887 of 2026
                                           3


impugned order is arbitrary and bad in the eyes of law; hence, liable to be
set-aside.

7. Learned counsel for respondent-BSA on the other hand submits that as
per the provisions contained in Section 12(1)(a) of The Sexual
Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and
Redressal) Act, 2013 during the pendency of any application regarding
sexual harassment is moved, either the complainant or the person against
whom the complaint is made, may be shifted to some other place so that
the inquiry conducted on such complaint is fair and impartial. He further
contends that in the present case, the Committee constituted prior to
coming to the conclusion that the petitioner is innocent has also observed
the following:

"उपलब्ध मौखिक एवं दस्तावेजी साक्ष्यों के आधार पर कार्यस्थल पर लैंगिक उत्पीड़न अधिनियम, 2013 की
धारा 2(ड) के अंतर्गत यौन उत्पीड़न का आरोप संदेह से परे प्रमाणित नहीं होता है। अपितु विद्यालय में
प्रशासनिक एवं पारस्परिक संबधों
                           ं में गंभीर तनाव, संचार की कमी तथा अवकाश प्रबंधन संबंधी विवाद
परिलक्षित होते हैं।
01. शिकायतकर्ता द्वारा उठाए गए अवकाश स्वीकृति, वेतन अवरोधन तथा व्यक्तिगत संदेश भेजने के संबंध में
लगाए गए आरोपों की पृथक प्रशासनिक जांच सक्षम अधिकारी द्वारा कराई जाए।
02. भविष्य में किसी भी कर्मचारी को अवकाश स्वीकृति हेतु व्यक्तिगत व्हाट्सएप संदेश अथवा कॉल करने के
लिए बाध्य न किया जाए तथा मानव सम्पदा पोर्टल एवं अधिकृत समूहों के माध्यम से ही कार्यवाही सुनिश्चित
की जाए।
03. विद्यालय में कार्यरत समस्त शिक्षकों एवं कर्मचारियों को कार्यस्थल पर महिलाओं के प्रति सम्मानजनक
व्यवहार तथा महिलाओं का कार्यस्थल पर लैंगिक उत्पीड़न (निवारण, प्रतिषेध और प्रतितोष) अधिनियम,
2013 के प्रावधानों के संबंध में संवेदनशीलता प्रशिक्षण प्रदान किया जाए।
04. विद्यालय में उत्पन्न आपसी विवादों एवं गुटबाजी को समाप्त करने हेतु खंड शिक्षा अधिकारी द्वारा समम-
समय पर निरीक्षण एवं परामर्श बैठक आयोजित की जाए।
05. शिकायतकर्ता एवं प्रधानाध्यापक के प्रशासनिक हित में परस्पर गरिमापूर्ण व्यवहार बनाए रखने तथा किसी
भी प्रकार के व्यक्तिगत विवाद से बचने हेतु निर्देशित किया जाए।
06. यदि शिकायतकर्ता स्वयं प्रधानाध्यापक के साथ कार्य करने में असहजता व्यक्त करती हैं, तो प्रशासनिक
सुविधा एवं कार्यस्थल की शांति बनाए रखने के लिए सक्षम प्राधिकारी स्थानांतरण/ समायोजन के विकल्प पर
विचार कर सकती है।"


8. Thus, in these circumstances, the competent authority was given the
liberty to transfer the concerned person in order to maintain peace and for
                                                                                             WRIA No. 14887 of 2026
                                                                    4


                                    safety and security for the Assistant Teacher concerned.

                                    9. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the complainant/Caveator
                                    requests to file an impleadment application but the same has not been
                                    accepted. The Court, in normal circumstances, would not have heard the
                                    complainant counsel, however, in these special circumstances where the
                                    case comes within the purview of The Sexual Harassment of Women at
                                    Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, Mr. Adarsh
                                    Singh, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the complainant, namely,
                                    Pooja Sharma has been heard to assist the Court.

                                    10. Mr. Adarsh Singh, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the
                                    complainant in order to assist the Court states at the Bar that there is no
                                    denial by the petitioner before the concerned Committee that he had not
                                    asked the teachers to give personal message regarding any leave or for
                                    any other problem. He further submits that the petitioner has been
                                    transferred only 6 kms away from the institution in question which is an
                                    administrative transfer and not at the instance of respondent no.1-Addl.
                                    Chief Secretary, Basic Education U.P., Lucknow as nothing is there on
                                    record to show that respondent no.1 has ever directed for transfer of the
                                    petitioner. He also contends that the respondent no.1 has only forwarded
                                    the application which was placed before him so moved by the
                                    complainant, namely, Pooja Sharma. As regard the observation of the
                                    Regional Assistant Director of Education (Basic), First Region, Meerut
                                    that the transfer of any teacher can be done only on the basis of online
                                    process by an administrative order, in these special circumstances where
                                    in order to maintain safety, security of the complainant and taking into
                                    consideration the observation made by the concerned Committee, the
                                    petitioner has been transferred, therefore, there is no illegality in the order
                                    impugned.

                                    11. In view of the aforesaid, the present petition is dismissed,
                                    accordingly.



                                                                                (Mrs. Manju Rani Chauhan,J.)
                                    September 17, 2026
                                    K.N.




Digitally signed by :-
KALP NATH SINGH
High Court of Judicature at Allahabad