A.K. Basheer, J.

"Sword of Satyagraha", Mahatma Gandhi said, "is far superior to the steel sword. Truth and justice provide its point; divine help is the hilt that adorns it. One who has the use of this sword has no cause to fear defeat".

2. The19 year old appellant who is a first year B.A (English) student in St.Georges college, Erattupetta in Kottayam, deluded herself as a Satyagrahi and believed that "peaceful resistance" was the best means to fight for the cause of her family. She staged a Satyagraha in front of the office of the Principal with a placard in her hand while all her college mates were attending classes.

3. Appellant was dismissed from the college. She unsuccessfully challenged the above order of dismissal before the learned single Judge. Hence this appeal.

4. The short question that arises for consideration is whether the order of dismissal of the appellant is illegal, arbitrary and vitiated.

5. While answering the above question in the negative, the learned Judge held that Sathyagraha staged by the appellant in front of the office of the Principal during the working hours of the college with a placard in her hand, distribution of pamphlets among the students and teachers justifying the Satyagraha and also holding of press conference to the print and electronic media thereafter, were all acts of misconduct and therefore the management was justified in dismissing the appellant from the college after accepting the finding entered by the Enquiry Committee in this regard. The learned Judge also held that the action of the management was not vitiated by malafides or victimisation and that the order of dismissal was issued in conformity with the procedure prescribed therefor and also in compliance of the rules of natural justice.

6. Shorn of unnecessary details, the relevant facts may be briefly noticed.

7. Appellant was a student in the first year B.A (English) in St.Georges College at Erattupetta in Kottayam during the academic year 2006-07. Her father Sri.George Varghese is working as a Selection Grade Lecturer in Malayalam in the said institution. According to the appellant, the Principal of the college had been extremely inimical and hostile towards her father after publication of a book authored by him entitled "Nasrayanum Naranathubrandanum". Appellant concedes that in the said book her father had given a true narrative of the harrowing experiences faced by him at the hands of the Principal. Her father had also criticized the Christian Sabha in the book with a view to persuade it to rectify its mistakes. The second reason for the hostility of the Principal towards appellants father, according to her, was that the Principal had raised some objection with regard to the entitlement of her father to draw salary during the period when he had been doing research work under the Faculty Improvement Programme sponsored by the University Grants Commission. Appellant alleged that the Principal had been subjecting herself and her father to mental harassment and humiliation under one pretext or the other primarily because of the two reasons mentioned above.

8. The appellant further alleged that the Principal had refused to conduct the College Day Celebrations during the academic year in question (2006-2007) on the plea that the atmosphere in the campus was not congenial enough, since the Police had registered a crime against a colleague of the appellant (Mr.Praveen) who was falsely implicated in the case at the instance of the appellant. The Principal had also spread news among the students that appellants mother had lodged a complaint against members of the College Union and therefore the College Day could not be celebrated. The appellant who was elected as the Vice Chairman of the College Union was widely criticised by the students for the cancellation of the College Day Celebrations. It was for the aforesaid reasons that the appellant had held a Satyagraha in front of the office of the Principal.

.9. It ma