The obligation of the Management Committee to observe the provisions of the Delhi School Education Act and the irrelevance of financial hardship for non-compliance with statutory mandates.

ORDER

This matter is being heard through Video-Conferencing.

1. The present petition has been filed by the petitioners with the following prayers:-

"That in view of the facts narrated above and the humble submissions made, it is most humbly prayed that this Hon'ble Court may graciously be pleased to issue :

(a) Writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate Writ, Order or Direction, directing the Respondents No. 3 to 7 to pay the Salary of the Petitioners for the months of April - June 2020, in the terms of Order Dt. 17.04.2020 of the Respondent No.1 and also to release the arrears within a time frame, which this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper and to pay the future Salaries in time as stipulated under law and further direct them not to take any retaliatory steps by way of issuance of any Memo, Suspension Order or Termination Order or any punitive action against the Petitioners on account of their demanding the payment of their outstanding Salaries.

(b) A Writ of Certiorari or any other Writ, Order or Direction, thereby quashing I setting aside the Impugned Order Dt. 25.06.2020, being the "Notice Dt. 25.06.2020", issued by the Respondent No. 4, on the basis of the Resolution Dt. 24.06.2020, passed by the Respondents No. 3-7, being illegal, unconstitutional, arbitrary, unjust and without jurisdiction and in violation of the law and the principles of equity, natural justice and good conscience; and to fu1iher quash I set aside all I any proceeding taken by the Respondents No. 3-7 in pursuance of the said Resolution Dt. 24.06.2020 and/or the "Notice Dt. 25.06.2020".

(c) Direct the Respondents No.3-7 to not to cause any hindrance to the Petitioners from marking their attendance at the time of joining duty and to sign on the Register at the time of leaving the School after duty hours.

(d) Writ Petition may kindly be allowed with cost.

(e) Pass any other order (s) which this Hon 'ble may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case. "

2. In substance, the grievance of the petitioners in this petition is non payment of complete salary by the School with effect from April 2020 till date.

3. According to Mr. Bakshi, learned counsel for the petitioners, non payment of the complete salary to the petitioners is causing great hardship as the petitioners have a family to support. Even otherwise, the provision of the Delhi School Education Act provides that the salary or any other service condition cannot be varied to the disadvantage of the employees. According to Mr. Bakshi, the plea of the respondent School of financial hardship is no ground to deny the petitioners their lawful dues, more so, when the petitioners are discharging their duties with utmost sincerity and diligence.

4. Mr. Bakshi has also drawn my attention to an order dated April 17, 2020 issued by the Directorate of Education whereby instructions have been issued to all Schools not to stop the salary of the Teachers / employees of the Schools. Even if there is an issue of non availability of funds, the same must be arranged from the Society / Trust running the School. Despite such instructions, the School has been paying 50% of the salary and not the complete salary. Mr. Surinder Singh, learned counsel appearing for the respondent Nos.3 to 7 would submit that because of COVID-19 as the complete school fee is not being paid by the students, the school(s) is unable to generate the revenue, to pay the complete salary to the petitioners. In substance, he pleads the financial hardship as a ground for non-payment of the complete salary to the petitioners. He concedes to the fact that this Court has allowed a petition in favour of the Schools to charge fees under certain heads but the same are still not being paid as circular in that regard has not been circulated to the parents.

5. I find, a counter affidavit has been filed by the Directorate of Education as well. It is the stand of the Directorate of Education that in terms of Section 8(1) of the Delhi School Education Ac