HC orders govt to pay salaries to 112 college teachers, staffs

After hearing 39 separate writ petitions filed by 112 teachers and staffs of 39 colleges, the High Court also issued a rule upon the authorities concerned to show cause as to why the order of the director general's office stopping payment of the salaries to the petitioners should not be declared illegal.

The rule made by a division bench of the High Court comprising Justice M A Matin and Justice Rezaul Haque is returnable within three weeks.

The office of the director general of the directorate of secondary and higher secondary education issued an order stopping the payments of salaries, popularly known as 'stop payment' order, from May this year, against about 3,000 teachers and staffs of about 500 nongovernmental colleges.

Some 96 teachers and staffs of 33 nongovernmental colleges, including Nimgachhi Degree College, Pabna, and Moulana Tarkabagish College, Sirajganj and 16 teachers and staffs of 3 colleges filed separate writ petitions on Tuesday and Monday tespectively with the High Court challenging the 'stop payment' orders.

Earlier, the HC passed similar orders following the writ petitions filed by 179 teachers and staffs. But, seven teachers of them filed a contempt petition against the director general of the directorate of education as the respondents did not implement the order. The High Court ordered three respondents, including professor Dilara Hafiz, director general of the directorate of education, to appear before the High Court to show cause in this regard.

On October 23, professor Dilara Hafiz and two other officials appeared before the High Court and sought unconditional apology to the court for non-implementation of the court order. The office of the directorate of education, on October 20, paid the due salaries to the seven teachers who filed the contempt petition.

Senior advocate ABM Nurul Islam moved for the petitioners before the court.