Observing that 12 teachers were made to work for a meagre salary of ₹500 per month between 2005 and 2018, the High Court of Karnataka has directed the management of aided-schools to pay them as compensation the wages, on par with the minimum pay scale paid to regular teachers admitted to grant-in-aid, for the period they were in service.
School at Mysuru
Justice S. Sunil Dutt Yadav passed the order while disposing of a petition, filed way back in 2019 by K.R. Vishwanath and 11 others, who had worked as assistant teachers in various branches of T.S. Subbanna Public Schools run by T.S. Subbanna Sarvajanika Education Trust, Mysuru. The petitioners had served for a period ranging from two years to 13 years in various schools run by the trust in Mysuru.
“…Labour rendered by the petitioner without free will at meagre wages with an expectation that their service would be admitted to grant-in-aid would fall squarely in the ambit of forced labour contemplated under Article 23 of the Constitution of India,” the Court observed while pointing out that ₹500 per month paid to them was much less than even a minimum wage.
Equal pay for equal work
The Court has determined salary paid to the regular teachers as compensation to the petitioners while keeping in mind the apex court’s judgement on the principle of “equal pay for equal work.”
“When a violation of rights conferred under Article 23 of the Constitution is established, the financial stringency cannot be a consideration to tie the hands of the court from directing the institution to compensate the petitioners adequately,” the court observed while rejecting the trust’s claim that it is not financially sound to pay compensation to the petitioners.
The court has given three months for the trust to pay the compensation.
Published – February 22, 2025 10:01 pm IST
