Vinita Singh & Ors. v. Govt of NCT of Delhi & Ors.

1. The present petition has been filed three persons / petitioners with the following prayers: “It is therefore, most respectfully, prayed that this Hon’ble Court may kindly be pleased to:

1) Issue a writ of mandamus or an appropriate writ/order/direction thereby directing the respondents to take appropriate action to ensure implementation of the provisions of Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948, Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952, The Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 in the respondent no.3 school in respect of all employees/ the petitioners.

2) Issue a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction thereby directing the respondent no.3 school to pay full salary to the petitioners in consonance with Section 10(1) of Delhi School Education Act, 1973 as per recommendation of VII 2021:DHC:4165 W.P.(C) 5869/2020 Page 2 Central Pay Commission w.e.f 01.01.2016 by transferring the same to the bank accounts of petitioners and to pay arrears of salary w.e.f. 01.01.2016 @Rs.62,000/- per month with an interest @18% p.a.

3) Issue a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction thereby directing the respondents no.1, 2 and 4 to take appropriate action as per law against the respondent no.3 school for violating the provisions of Delhi School Education Act, 1973 and Rules and notifications issued there under and for violating CBSE Affiliation Bye-laws.

4) Pass any other order(s) as this Hon’ble Court may deem fit, in the facts and circumstances of the case, in the interest of justice.”

2. The case of the petitioners is that they have been working as PGT/TGT in the respondent No.3 / School on a regular basis. On March 28, 2013 respondent No.2 Department of Education issued notification extending the applicability of provisions of Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 to the private schools in Delhi. Similar notifications have been issued in respect of other beneficial legislations like Payment of Gratuity Act,

1972. Pursuant to the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission, (‘7th CPC’, for short), Directorate of Education (‘DoE’ for short) issued a notification on October 17, 2017 whereby all the private recognised schools were asked to implement the same. The grievance of the petitioners is two-fold that, respondent No.3 School has not given them salaries / benefits in terms of the recommendations of the 7th CPC. That apart, they are neither providing salary slips, nor paying salary through account transfer nor are they providing appointment letters. Further the benefits like General Provident Fund (‘GPF’, for short), Employees Service W.P.(C) 5869/2020 Page 3 Insurance Scheme (‘ESI’, for short) and payment of gratuity is not being given to the teachers of the respondent No.3 School.

3. Mr. Sudhir Nagar, learned counsel appearing for the petitioners would reiterate the stand as taken by the petitioners in the writ petition. He also relied upon the Judgment as rendered by this Court from time to time being Vardhaman Shiksha Mandir Senior Secondary School and Anr. v. Govt. of NCT of Delhi & Ors. 2017 SCC OnLine Del 6656. According to him, the notifications issued by the DoE with regard to the provident fund and payment of gratuity needs to be adhered to by the respondent No.3. He seeks the prayers as made in the writ petition.

4. Counter-affidavit has only been filed by respondent Nos. 1 and 2, wherein it is stated that respondent No.3 is a private unaided recognised school and is bound by the directions / circulars / notifications / orders issued by the respondent Nos. 1 and 2. With regard to payment of benefits, it is stated by the counsel for respondent Nos. 1 and 2 that in terms of Section 10(1) of the Delhi School Education Act, 1973 & Rules (‘DSEA&R’, for short), the teachers of the unaided recognised private schools are to be paid salary at par with that of the teachers of corresponding status in the Schools run by the appropriate authority, i.e., the DoE. It is also stated that the Schools are under an obligation to make payment of salaries to the staff by the 7th day of each month, as provided under the provisions of the DSEA&R. They refer to the complaints received on May 30, 2020 and June 22, 2020 which have been forwarded to the respondent No. 3 for their comments, but no such comments have been sent by the respondent No.3 School. It is also W.P.(C) 5869/2020 Page 4 stated that the teachers / employees working in a private unaided recognised school are entitled to other allowances at par with the employees / teachers of the Government School in terms of Section 10(1) of the DSEA&R.

5. Respondent No. 3, though had filed a counter-affidavit, the same was returned as being under objection. It appears that the counsel has not removed the objection (s) to get the same placed on record.

6. I have heard learned counsel for the parties. The grievance of the petitioners, as stated by their counsel, has two facets; (1) the payment of salary in terms of recommendations of the 7th CPC and (2) grant of benefits like GPF, payment of gratuity and ESI.

7. In so far as the issue of payment of salary is concerned, the same is no more res-integra in view of the judgment of the Coordinate Bench of this court in the case of Kuttamparampath Sudha Nair and Ors. Vs. Managing Committee, Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Vihar and Ors., W.P. (C) 928/2019 decided on May 6, 2021 wherein this Court rejected the plea of financial hardship taken by the School against disbursement of benefits under the 7th CPC and in paragraph 39, the Court has held as under:

8. Similarly, this Court also in the case of Shikha Sharma v. Guru Harkishan Public School & Ors., W.P.(C) 3746/2020 has granted the similar relief to the teachers therein and hence the issue of payment of salary under the provisions of 7th CPC is well settled. In paragraphs 24 & 25, this Court has held as under: