Badlapur case: HC seeks Maha govt's reply over suspended edu officer's plea

The Bombay High Court on Friday directed the Maharashtra government to respond to a plea filed by an education officer from Thane district seeking a stay on his suspension following the alleged sexual abuse of two girls at a school in Badlapur. The officer, Balasaheb Rakshe, urged the high court to stay the suspension order pending a final hearing of his petition before the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal (MAT), which refused him interim relief on August 26. He requested the high court to restrain the state government from appointing any other officer in the post. Rakshe moved the Bombay High Court seeking a stay on his suspension order, claiming the government order was "politically motivated" and he had been made a "scapegoat". A division bench of Justices A S Chandurkar and Rajesh Patil directed the government to file an affidavit by September 6 when it would hear the plea. Rakshe's advocate, S B Talekar, sought the court to order a status quo until then, but the court said