Withholding Salaries Due to Dispute Is Not Lawful, High Court Orders Payment of Arrears Within One Month
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| Supreme Court of Bangladesh |
Writ Petition No. 2334 of 2018; Meherun Nesa and others vs Government of Bangladesh and others was heard on December 1, 2025, and judgment was delivered on August 4, 2026. The judgment was delivered by a High Court Division bench comprising Justice Md. Shohrowardi and Justice Md. Sagir Hossain. The judgment was published on the Supreme Court website in October 2026.
Background of the Case
Four assistant teachers, one sports teacher, one office assistant and one peon of Patgudam Girls High School in Mymensingh filed the writ petition. Following their appointments, their names were included in the Monthly Payment Order (MPO), and they had been receiving the government portion of their salaries.
However, due to a dispute between the school’s management committee and the acting headmaster, the salary sheets of the teachers and staff were not sent to the Office of the Director General of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education. As a result, although the government portion of their salaries had been sent to the concerned bank, the petitioners could not receive their due salaries.
Period of Salary Arrears
According to the judgment, the salaries of petitioners Nos. 1 to 3 and 6 to 7 remained unpaid from April 2014 to December 2015. The salary of petitioner No. 4 remained unpaid from February to July 2013 and from April to July 2014, while petitioner No. 5 was not paid the salary for May 2013.
The petitioners applied to the concerned authority on October 18, 2017, seeking payment of their arrear salaries, but no effective action was taken.
Arrears of Other Teachers Had Been Paid
Earlier, five teachers of the same school, including the acting headmaster, had filed Writ Petition No. 3304 of 2014 seeking payment of their arrear salaries. On November 19, 2017, the High Court made the Rule absolute and directed the authorities to pay their arrear and regular salaries. Subsequently, their arrear salaries were paid.
Court’s Observation
The High Court observed that the petitioners’ salary sheets had not been forwarded because of the dispute between the management committee and the acting headmaster. At the same time, the arrear salaries of other teachers of the same school had been paid pursuant to the court’s earlier order.
The court found that the present petitioners stood on the same footing as the petitioners in the earlier case. Therefore, they were equally entitled to receive the government portion of their arrear salaries.
High Court’s Order
The court made the Rule absolute and directed the concerned authorities to pay the petitioners’ arrear salaries within one month from the date of receipt of the judgment and order. There was no order as to costs.
BDLawPost/Masum
