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Allahabad HC orders probe into salary payment to life convict teacher out on bail in murder case
In an order dated August 24, Justice Vinod Diwakar observed, “Public money being involved, and the health of the education system of the state being affected, the matter calls for transparent record-keeping and strict compliance with law.”
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The Allahabad high court has directed the Ballia district inspector of schools (DIOS) to conduct a thorough inquiry into disbursement of salary to an assistant teacher, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in a murder case but later released on bail. The court asked the DIOS to submit a detailed report by the next hearing on September 10.
The high court also directed the inquiry shall not proceed only upon the documents furnished by the parties; the DIOS shall independently verify the records maintained by the institution, his own office, the office of the joint director of education, the directorate, and by courts or other authorities concerned, wherever necessary.
The court was hearing a writ petition filed by the committee of management, Sri Vyantanand Sanskrit Uchhatar Madhyamik Vidyalaya.
In an order dated August 24, Justice Vinod Diwakar observed, “Public money being involved, and the health of the education system of the state being affected, the matter calls for transparent record-keeping and strict compliance with law.”
The management of the school at Sikandarpur, Ballia, challenged the March 14, 2026 order of the then Ballia DIOS whereby permission was granted for payment of salary to the seventh respondent Sudhakar Shukla, an assistant teacher and life convict who was released on bail after serving more than 14 years of his sentence on the ground that period of sentence had already been undergone.
The counsel for the petitioner submitted that the order granting bail neither set aside nor stayed the conviction and that the mere enlargement of a convict on bail cannot obliterate the conviction; and that it cannot confer an unrestricted right to continue in service where the service regulations attach consequences to conviction. Therefore, the impugned (under challenge) order is bad in law and liable to be set aside. The assistant teacher was the principal accused in case crime No. 289 of 2011 under Sections 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 3/25 of the Arms Act, 1959. He faced trial and was sentenced to imprisonment for life in a judgment dated July 15, 2015. He filed a criminal appeal, which is pending consideration before the high court.
Having undergone 13 years of actual sentence, and 14 years of total sentence, including remission, he was enlarged on bail by this court on July 29, 2024 on the ground of the period of sentence already undergone. Thereafter, he was sanctioned salary by the DIOS, which was challenged by the school management before the high court.
