Gorhe had moved the HC, stating that the action against him was mala fide. Gorhe pleaded that his powers be restored and that the inquiry initiated against him by the society be withdrawn. The court restored his powers on Thursday and stated that the inquiry committee headed by a retired Chief Justice of the HC B N Deshmukh should submit its report to the high court instead of the society.

Gorhe has been the principal of the law college since 1985. On August 8, 1998, he met with a minor accident, sustaining injury to his right arm. However, he continued with his daily routine. On August 27 he received a letter from a trustee of the society, S B Pandit, that the vice-principal of the college, P R Sainik would officiate as the principal till further orders.

Gorhethen filed a suit against the society, claiming damages of Rs 1 lakh for his `demotion' without reason. He alleged that the action was at the behest of the society secretary, M S Gosavi, who desired to see his back. Gorhe had pointed out that on February 23, 1998, cash books and ledgers had been removed from his office by Gosavi, following the former's discovery that parallel accounts were being operated in the name of the principal in the Bank of Maharashtra.

The society, founded in 1918, an institution of repute has within its scope 99 institutions including those in Mumbai, Thane, Nashik and Ahmednagar and currently has around one lakh pupils and around 4,000 teachers on its rolls.