The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has upheld the arrest warrant against the State Education Secretary, Ranjit Singh Deol and Deputy Director of Education (Primary), Santosh Gaikwad. The warrant was issued by the court on November 1 in response to the Department’s non-compliance with the court order regarding the payment of salaries to special teachers. Following the order, the Government machinery from Mumbai to Nagpur had acted quickly and deposited Rs 5.25 lakh each within 24 hours in the bank accounts of over 100 petitioners, who are fighting for their wages due for last about 9 years, On Wednesday, the division bench of Justice Anuja Prabhudesai and Justice Vrushali Joshi expressed dissatisfaction over the Government officials for handling of the matter and rejected their plea to quash the arrest warrant. Both officials have been directed to appear before the High Court on December 14.

 

The High Court mandated the disbursement of a salary of Rs 75,000 to the teachers within a week. Additionally, the dismissal of 30 teachers was suspended by the court and ordered release of their salaries. Earlier, the High Court had directed Commissioner of Police Amitesh Kumar to present Dewal and Gaikwad before the court. The teachers were appointed on a regular pay scale by the State Government to teach physically handicapped children. Over time, the teachers were not remunerated according to the Government’s pay scale norms.

 

The teachers approached the Aurangabad High Court after their termination in 2012. Subsequently, they were reinstated, but their salaries were withheld by the Government. Even after the High Court order in 2022, the Education Department failed to comply with the court’s mandate to release the teachers’ salaries. Adv Anand Parchure, Adv Mohammad Atiq, Adv S S Kaji represented the petitioners while Adv Kalyani Deshpande appeared for the State.