Kochi | The Kerala High Court on Thursday questioned the government why a teacher of an aided upper primary school was suspended for framing a "wrong question" with regard to Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar in a quiz, asking "what is the illegal act done by him".
The poser from Justice Viju Abraham came on a plea by the teacher -- Guruprasad Rai K -- challenging his suspension for listing V D Savarkar as the answer to the question -- "Who is the freedom fighter who received the maximum punishment at the hands of the British?" The court, during the hearing, also asked whether the teacher should have been suspended since disciplinary proceedings have been initiated.
It further asked, "The teacher may have had other intentions, but can he be suspended only for putting a wrong question? What is the illegal act done by him?" The court directed the government to come with the specific reason for which the petitioner (Guruprasad) was placed under suspension and listed the matter for hearing on August 17.
The controversial question was there in one of the questionnaires prepared as part of the school-level Social Science Club Freedom Quiz 2026 conducted on August 6 for students in the Lower Primary, Upper Primary and High School sections under the Kumbla and Manjeshwar sub-districts.
The Lower Primary section questionnaire contained 15 questions and five tie-breaker questions and one among them was the controversial query that triggered widespread protests and prompted education authorities to initiate an inquiry.
Subsequently, Director General of General Education Snehil Kumar Singh on Sunday suspended the teacher.
