Pay benefits case: School edu dept commissioner appears before HC

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu School Education Department Commissioner K Nandakumar on Thursday appeared before the Madras High Court and informed that an order has been passed on Wednesday to settle the pension and other pay benefits of a retired Bachelor of teaching (BT) Assistant.

The officer made these submissions before the division bench of Justice Paresh Upadhyay and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy. The bench was hearing a petition filed by a retired BT Assistant named Hari Haran.

According to the petitioner, the State government passed a GO in 1993 to give uniform salary and pension benefits to teachers. He further argued that a three-judge bench of Madras HC has confirmed the GO and ordered the government to grant the pay benefits without any discrepancies. However, he was not in a position to get his pension benefits while others are able to obtain the same.

Therefore, the bench summoned the school education department commissioner to appear before the court to furnish his explanation for not adhering to the order of the three-judge bench.

On his appearance, the officer informed the court that the order has been passed to settle the pension pay benefits. Nevertheless, the judges opined that the mere passing of orders is not enough and insisted the officer settle the pension benefits within two weeks.

Besides, the petitioner's complained to the judges that the headmaster of the school where his client worked had threatened him for initiating litigation in this issue.

Taking serious note regarding the alleged act of the HM, the bench directed the school education department to initiate a probe. If a prima facie case was made out, the department shall take disciplinary action against the HM, according to the court