The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has issued non-bailable warrants for the arrest of the secretary and upper secretary of the Maharashtra government's education department due to their failure to adhere to the court's directives regarding the payment of teachers' salaries and arrears.

On Wednesday, a division bench consisting of Justices Prithviraj Chavan and Urmila Joshi-Phalke considered a petition submitted by Chitra Mehar. This petition sought legal action for contempt of court against the officials who failed to adhere to the court's directives.

Anand Parchure, the lawyer representing Mehar, stated that the teachers appointed by the state government to educate differently-abled children were not receiving salaries in accordance with the pay scale designated for "skilled teachers."

In 2018, a group of teachers, including Mehar, filed a petition in the High Court, requesting payment of salaries based on the mentioned pay scale. In 2022, the High Court issued a directive to the government to disburse the petitioners' outstanding dues of Rs 2.13 crore along with other arrears.

However, no payment was made despite the court's directive. As a result, the teachers filed a contempt petition in the previous year, as explained by advocate Parchure.

In September, the court issued an order directing the secretary of the education department to be present on November 1, but he did not appear as required by the court's instructions.

The court observed that there was no adequate or acceptable explanation for the failure to comply with the previous court orders.

Given the circumstances described, the court had no choice but to issue non-bailable warrants against Ranjit Singh Deol, who serves as the Secretary of the Government of Maharashtra in the School Education and Sports Department, and Santosh Gaikwad, who holds the position of Upper Secretary of the Government of Maharashtra in the School Education and Sports Department, Mumbai. This decision was made by the High Court as mentioned in its order.

The bench instructed the Nagpur police commissioner to personally carry out the execution of the warrants and to present the concerned officials before the court on November 6.