Saturday, September 27, 2014

CRUEL CASE OF EXPLOITATION--DILSHAD PUBLIC SCHOOL DEMANDS BLANK SIGNED CHEQUES & PASS-BOOKS FROM EMPLOYEES-- HIGH COURT ISSUES NOTICES

The Delhi High Court, through Justice Hima Kohli on Monday, September 22, issued notices to Dilshad Public School and GNCTD on a petition filed by 13 employees of the school, through Advocate Ashok Agarwal, against illegal insistence upon them to deposit signed blank cheque-books and pass-books of their salary-accounts with the school, thereby enabling the school to illegally withdraw sums of money from the salaries to be credited into their accounts         

Some of the employees had earlier approached the High Court in 2004 against payment of extremely low salaries to them and harassment at the hands of the school and a compromise was reached at in 2005 that the school shall pay full salaries to the employees through cheques in terms of Delhi School Education Act, 1973. However, the school continued to pay to them the same low salaries in contravention of the Delhi School Education Act and the terms of the said compromise, while they were made to sign upon false entries in the pay-registers showing full salaries. Interestingly, the school is also filing income-tax returns on behalf of the employees showing full salaries as income. The salaries last paid to the employees are as low as Rs.2300 to the water-woman who has been employed there for more than 20 years in the school, Rs.2800 to the watch-man, Rs.4700 to one of the Primary Teachers and Rs.7000 to one of the TGTs. 

In August 2014, the school informed the employees that it shall forthwith credit full salaries to the bank-accounts of the employees in terms of the Delhi School Education Act, 1973. It accordingly asked the employees to open their accounts. At the same time, however, they were asked to deposit their blank signed cheque-books and pass-books with the school in order to enable the school to withdraw money from their bank-accounts. The employees opened their accounts in Canara Bank but did not deposit their signed cheque-books and pass-books with the school. The school has therefore not credited any salary to their accounts. At the same time, the school is threatening the employees that not only their salaries shall not be credited to their accounts but they shall also be removed from service without any notice if they do not deposit their signed cheque-books and pass-books as asked to by the school.   

“It is an extreme case of exploitation of the petitioners at the hands of the respondent-school which is continuing for the past several years. The school is bound in law to pay to the petitioners full salaries and emoluments in terms of Section 10 of the Delhi School Education Act, 1973 and the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission and cannot ask for signed blank cheques and pass-books from the petitioners”, Advocate Ashok Agarwal, appearing for the petitioner-employees, argued.    

The next date of hearing in the matter is 24.11.2014.   


ASHOK AGARWAL, ADVOCATE         
M: 9811101923  
26.09.2014

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