Bombay HC Issues Warrant Against Maha Education Dept Secretary For Non-Compliance Of Order On Teachers' Dues

The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court (HC) has issued non-bailable warrants against two top officials at the state school education department for failing to comply with the court's orders regarding the regular payment of salaries to special education teachers.

In its verdict on Wednesday, the division bench of Justices Prithviraj Chavan and Urmila Joshi-Phalke, rapped Ranjit Singh Deol, principal secretary and Santosh Gaikwad, upper secretary of the department for not complying with eight orders issued by the court between February and September to pay salary arrears to the teachers. Deol had also failed to appear before the court, as was directed by HC last month. The secretary didn't respond to calls and a message from FPJ.

Details On The Case

The bench was hearing a contempt petition filed by 118 teachers, who were appointed to teach specially-abled children across the state as part of the Centre's Samagra Shiksha scheme. The teachers have accused the government of not complying with an order issued by HC in April last year directing the state to pay dues of Rs 2.13 crore and other arrears.

The court said that the government had failed to deposit the teachers' arrears, even though a government resolution was issued on October 26, sanctioning Rs 6.2 crore towards paying the dues. The court also noted that there was no satisfactory explanation as to why the earlier orders were not followed.