Sippy Sidhu murder case: HC upholds Chandigarh admn’s decision to sack Kalyani as assistant professor

The Punjab and Haryana high court has upheld UT administration’s decision of sacking Kalyani Singh, a judge’s daughter and the main accused in the 2015 Sippy Sidhu murder case, from the post of an assistant professor of a city college.
“Allowing the petitioner to continue in her role under the cloud of these serious allegations would not only set a harmful precedent, but also compromise the institutions’ obligation to prioritise the best interest of students and the broader public interest. Consequently, the termination of petitioner’s service is legally justified,” the bench of justice Sureshwar Thakur and justice Sudeepti Sharma observed.
National-level shooter and lawyer Sukhmanpreet Singh, better known as Sippy Sidhu, 34, was shot dead at a park in Sector 27 on September 20, 2015. His family has accused Kalyani of killing him as they had turned down her marriage proposal.
Sippy was the grandson of late justice SS Sidhu, a former Punjab and Haryana high court judge, and Kalyani is the daughter of retired Himachal Pradesh high court judge justice Sabina.
The sensational case was initially probed by the Chandigarh Police. But in 2016, it was transferred to CBI following protests by Sippy’s family. The central agency had at one point of time also filed an “untraced” report. But in June 2022, she was arrested by CBI and later charged with murder.
It was on May 5 this year, nine years after the murder that the CBI court ordered day-to-day hearing of the trial while framing charges against Kalyani, who has been out on bail since September 2022.
The high court was dealing with her petition filed against a Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) order, which in February 2024 had upheld UT’s decision of terminating her services.
Did not inform college about her arrest
Kalyani worked as an assistant professor of home science on contract basis at Post Graduate Government College for Girls, Sector 42, since August 2017. As she remained absent from her duties without informing the college after her arrest on June 15, 2022, her services were terminated with effect from the date of her arrest by the UT education department.
As per the proceedings, she had not even informed the college about her arrest and authorities came to know about it from newspaper reports. She had challenged UT’s decision before CAT, but failed to get relief. It was this order that she had challenged before the high court in May 2024, arguing that her conduct was found satisfactory. Hence, the decision to terminate from her service was illegal.
The court found that her contract was terminated by taking into account her absence from duty and also keeping in view conditions of contract as per which services can be terminated without giving a notice if work and conduct are not found satisfactory.
The court also questioned why she could not inform the college and that if she was arrested, the information could be sent through family members. The students were suffering and even the college was not aware about the reason of her absence from duty, it remarked.
Teachers regarded as gurus: HC
The court observed that educational institutions are regarded as “temples of learning, and teachers as mentors (gurus)”.
“The institution cannot overlook the fact that she has been ..(booked in a murder case). Although petitioner is not convicted, the mere pendency of such grave charges places the institution in a position where it must act to protect its reputation and the faith reposed in it by society and the parents who entrust their children’s education to its care,” it recorded.
The court asserted that educational institutions were very particular about antecedents/act and conduct of the students and faculty, and no institution would admit any student or faculty who is undergoing trial under the offence against society. Thus, long absence without informing the institution and her arrest in a murder case would fulfil conditions stipulated in her contract as per which, it can be terminated without any notice upon finding work and conduct not satisfactory, it said, dismissing Kalyani’s plea.