HC imposes Rs 20,000 cost on DSEK

Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Apr 27:  High Court imposed cost of Rs 20,000 on Director School Education Kashmir, Tariq Ali Mir, for withholding 8 years’ salary and not processing the case for retiring benefits of a teacher.
Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey while hearing a petition of a retired teacher, Mehraj-ud-Din Ashai, quashed the order issued by Director School Education where Ashai’s service from November 1994 to April 2002 has been treated as leave after his retirement on 31.5.2002.
The Bench said that Order No.5553-DSEK of 2002 dated 2.12.2002, issued by DSEK is quashed.
“The petitioner is held to be entitled to his salary from the date it has not been paid to him, together with increments, arrears that would become due to him,” the court directed, adding that the same be released within one month, failing which the petitioner would also be entitled to, and paid by the respondents simple interest at the rate of 6% calculable from the date the expiry of one month.
The court directed the petitioner is also held entitled to costs of Rs. 20,000 to be paid to him by respondent DSEK along with his aforesaid dues.
The court pulled up the DSEK and observed that they have demonstrated an acute degree of apathy and insensitivity towards the petitioner’s plight and have perpetrated a cruelty on him by their lax and ineffective administration, after petitioner’s counsel advocate Shakir Haqani submitted before the court that the petitioner is suffering from carcinoma and has made series of representation to the authorities for redressal of genuine grievances, but to no avail.
The court further lashing out at respondents behaviour towards his employee observed: “At the fag end of his services and life, he has been made to suffer unabated at the hands of sloppy administrative attitude, and the respondents throwing not only rules of business to winds, but grossly violating the legal and fundamental rights of petitioner and left him high and dry for almost 8 years without and subsistence and sustenance for none of his faults.”
The court directed the respondents to process and complete his pension papers within 15 days from the date of date of expiry of a month from today.
The petitioner appointed as teacher on substantive basis in the year 1964 was transferred along with 120 teachers in the year 1994 and was ordered to report ZEO Gulab Bagh against an available post.
But the said ZEO did not issue his adjustment order as he could not locate the available post on account of non-adjustment and thus petitioner could not draw his salary.