- The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday directed the secretary and director of school education department and chief educational officer (CEO) of Tiruchy to file an explanatory affidavit individually as to why they have not permitted the Tiruchy district educational officer (DEO) to comply with an order passed by the court in October 2022 for payment of salary and arrears to a teacher.
A bench of justices R Suresh Kumar and KK Ramakrishnan, which gave the direction, criticised the DEO for not implementing the court’s order even after suo motu contempt proceedings were initiated against her last month. Perusing certain proceedings issued by the DEO on April 10, 2023, in which she had stated that she was awaiting permission from the principal secretary and director of school education department and the Tiruchy CEO, the judges observed that the said proceedings are in utter violation of the orders passed by the court.
They also noted from the DEO’s statement that the above three officers seem to be standing in the way in complying with the court’s order. “If so, this court cannot be detained from initiating contempt proceedings against those officials as no authority can stand in the way to comply with the orders of this court and undermine the majesty of this court,” the judges observed and sought explanatory affidavit from the three officials. The case was adjourned to April 18.