Bokaro, March 2: The problems of M.O. Kuriakose, principal of BISS school, are far from over. Devendra Kumar Jha, whose mother had filed a case against Kuriakose for not allowing her son to sit for the CBSE examination, has sent a fresh notice to the Bokaro Steel management demanding that Rs 2 lakh be deducted from the VRS amount payable to the principal.

A recipient of the President’s gold medal for being an excellent teacher, Kuriakose had not allowed Devendra to sit for the examination as he did not have 75 per cent attendance, which is required according to CBSE norms.

The notice was also sent to Shitansu Prasad, head of education, S.D. Jha, deputy general manager (Education) and Shyam Mohan, former deputy general manager of Bokaro Steel Management.

Earlier, Devendra’s mother, Manor Devi, had said that Kuriakose had malafide intentions behind not allowing her son to appear for the exams although he had answered one of the practical papers.

Manor Devi told The Telegraph that Kuriakose was biased against her son and therefore did not allow him to take the exams.

“Devendra answered one of the science practical papers and yet he was not allowed to appear in the CBSE exams. This is ridiculous. My son is a very good student. Just imagine the trauma he is going through. I can’t see his pain anymore,” she said.

A letter in this regard was sent to the CBSE chairman on 25 November 2002 by Manor Devi. The CBSE authorities sought a reply from the principal but he did not respond.

Sources said after this incident, Kuriakose was shifted to another branch of the school in Sector 8B.

Three months ago, Kuriakose applied for VRS on the ground that his father, who lives in Kerala, was ill. But the steel plant management has not taken any action yet.

A senior officer of the education department of Bokaro Steel said Kuriakose’s decision not to allow Jha to take the exam was based on CBSE rules.

A student who does not have 75 percent of attendance can be allowed to take the exam provided he/she has 60 per cent attendance, he said adding that the CBSE has to be informed about this.

But in Devendra’s case, his attendance was only 52 percent. Devendra’s parents were informed about their son’s poor attendance, but they did nothing about it, he said.

“Besides Devendra, there were other students who were not allowed to appear in the examinations. So where is the malafide intention” he said.

On allegations that Kuriakore’s decision to take VRS was dictated by the controversy, he said the principal’s father has lost about 70 per cent of his eyesight. As a result, Kuriakose had applied for VRS.

Kuriakose has met the chairman of CBSE in Delhi to present his side of the case.