The Delhi High Court The Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday warned the Delhi government of attaching its bank accounts if it did not release funds for payment of salaries of MCD school teachers in east and north Delhi, observing it was “intolerable” not to pay the teachers who served selflessly.

The court asked the Delhi Government to show some bona fide by paying salaries of teachers in municipal schools and said the state should treat all teachers — of MCD schools and Delhi government — at par. Anguished over non-payment of salaries of municipal school teachers, a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar said this was “intolerable”, “completely improper” and an “inefficient system”.

“We will attach your (Delhi government) bank accounts. We will stop you from paying salaries to your teachers. Let all the teachers be treated at par. How can you even claim you are interested in education,” the bench said. It also observed that the “teachers are the only persons in this world who give selflessly without any expectation. They do not even expect a ‘thank you’ from their students. We are absolutely appalled. Show some bona fide.”

The bench said if the Delhi government wanted to do any good for the students, who are the sufferers, it should release funds for their salaries. It asked the AAP government to pay salaries from its funds, as of now, and said it will later decide whether it is the responsibility of the Centre or the state to pay the municipal teachers, who got their last salary for January.

The court said this when Delhi government counsel Satyakam submitted that nothing was being given to them by the Centre due to which they were unable to release funds to the municipal authorities. “Don’t use this to whip the central government in an endeavour to take out money from the Union of India. Show some bona fide,” it said.

When the court asked what was the Delhi government doing by withholding the salaries, Delhi government counsel said it was not holding back even a penny. The court said there must be several teachers who are sole bread earners in their families and if they are not paid, how will they run their house and then they are compelled to take tuition to earn money. “We will say all teachers be treated equally. We are saying it for the last time, do it for the sake of education,” the court said, adding that it was a violation of right to education under the Constitution.

The court listed the matter for April 16, asking the Delhi government counsel to take instructions how it will release funds for municipal teachers salary. The court had earlier too rapped the authorities for the treatment they meted out to teachers, doctors, nurses and sanitation workers who were not payed for over four months.

The bench was hearing an NGO’s plea seeking contempt action against the two Municipal Corporations for alleged violation of the high court’s January 5 direction to clear all arrears of the teachers within a month. NGO Social Jurist, represented by advocate Ashok Agarwal, has contended that the salaries have not been paid to EDMC and North Delhi Municipal Corporation school teachers from December last year. Agarwal had also told the court that an 80-year-old retired teacher had written a letter to the Prime Minister saying she has not been paid pension and asking how will she survive.

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