Dismissal Over Instagram Picture: Supreme Court Refuses Plea Filed by Former Professor of St. Xavier's University

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea filed by a former professor of St. Xavier’s University in Kolkata who was allegedly forced to resign due to complaints by a student’s parent regarding her personal Instagram account.

The professor, who was the petitioner, challenged the order passed by the Calcutta High Court that denied her request to proceed with the writ petition anonymously, without making her identity public.

When the matter was called out, the petitioner’s counsel requested for an adjournment. However, the bench of Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Rajesh Bindal refused to grant the adjournment and instead allowed the petitioner to withdraw the petition. Justice Kohli remarked that the petition was “absolutely frivolous” and could not be entertained. She further added that since the writ petition was related to a service matter, the request of the petitioner to not disclose her name could not be granted.

The writ petition before the High Court pertained to the petitioner’s resignation, which she claimed was forced. The complaint was made by a parent of an undergraduate student who found the professor’s photographs on her private Instagram account objectionable. The petitioner requested the court not to disclose her identity in order to maintain her privacy, but the request was dismissed.

The High Court noted that though several statutes provide for conducting trial without disclosing the name of the lady survivor, courts must function as transparently as possible. Thus, non-disclosure of the identity of the litigant is an exception and not the rule. The court further stated that no justification was shown by the petitioner to proceed with the writ petition without disclosing her name. The High Court dismissed the request for non-disclosure of identity and granted liberty to the petitioner to file a fresh writ petition.