UP court orders attachment of basic education officer's office in 41-year-old arrears case

Ballia (UP), Nov 6 (PTI) A local court has ordered the attachment of the district basic education officer's office for failing to comply with a 41-year-old Supreme Court directive to clear arrears of three government primary school employees, a government counsel said on Thursday.

Vinay Kumar Singh, the government counsel for the Basic Education Department, told PTI that the apex court had on November 26, 1984, ordered the payment of Rs 12,39,342.55 to three employees – Sachchidanand, Saudagar Yadav, and Rajnarayan Rai of Daulatpur Primary School.

However, despite repeated reminders, the payment was not made by the district basic education officer, prompting the employees to move the court of the Additional Civil Judge (Senior Division), resulting in the case, Sachchidanand vs Management Committee and Others.

The court, on October 1, 2005, ordered attachment of the said amount.

Later, during proceedings on December 6, 2024, the court also restrained operations of the district basic education officer's bank account.

Singh said that on the latest hearing held on November 3 this year, Additional Civil Judge (Senior Division) Sanjay Kumar Gaur noted that no amount had yet been attached in compliance with the court's October 2005 order.

Calling this "highly objectionable", the judge observed that the district basic education officer had been "repeatedly misleading the court." Rejecting the plea submitted by the district basic education officer, the court accepted the petition filed by the decree holder's counsel "in the interest of justice" and ordered the attachment of the BEO's office.

The court also directed revenue official Sudhir Kumar Singh to ensure compliance and submit a report, while forwarding a copy of the order to the Superintendent of Police to ensure that there was no obstruction in its execution. The next hearing in the case has been fixed for November 7.

The government counsel said that the Basic Education Department is moving a revision petition, seeking a stay on the court's order.

District Basic Education Officer Manish Singh told PTI that several requests had been made to the department's director for permission to comply with the court's directive.

"However, due to the absence of necessary approval, the payment could not be made despite the court's orders," he said. PTI COR KIS VN VN