Teachers doing duty during pandemic can be equated to corona warriors: Delhi HC
Jun 26, 2020
New Delhi [India], June 26 : The Delhi High Court, while hearing a petition over pending salaries of teaching staff in North MCD schools in the national capital, on Friday observed that teachers doing their duty during the pandemic can be equated to corona warriors.
"Teachers belong to one of the noble professions and as they are made to do COVID-19 duty also, they can be equated to COVID-19 warriors," a division bench of Justices Hima Kohli and S Prasad said while observing that teachers of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation schools have not received salaries since March.
The high court was hearing a petition, filed by Akhil Dilli Prathmik Shikshak Sangh, that submitted that teachers have been discharging their duties in schools being run by the respondent, but they have not received their salaries ever since March 2020.
Calling the issue as "a sorry state of affairs," the high court converted the plea into a "suo motu petition", whereby the court has the power to use its inherent powers and initiate a hearing on its own by taking cognisance of any issue.
In the last hearing, the high court had observed that teachers cannot be made to run from pillar to post to demand their lawful dues and asked North Delhi Municipal Corporation to clear the arrears of the salaries of the teachers teaching in the schools run by it.
Akhil Dilli Prathmik Shikshak Sangh had approached the high court challenging the order of a single-judge bench dated June 9 dismissing the petition filed by them seeking directions to North DMC to release teachers' salaries that have not been paid since March.
