The high court on Thursday set aside an order of a Hooghly school deducting an amount from the salary of 22 teachers who had not turned up during the period the government had suspended classes.

Justice Debanshu Basak passed the order following a petition by the teachers of Deshapriya Balika Vidyalaya, in Hooghly's Chinsurah.

The teachers challenged a notice by the school authorities asking them to report for duty after the government issued a circular in June 2015 suspending classes in all aided and sponsored institutions because of intense heat.

The circular, issued on June 5, stated that classes would remain suspended from June 8 to 13.

The petitioners stayed away from the school during the period, following which the authorities deducted an amount from their salaries.

Appearing for the petitioner teachers, advocate Ekramul Bari submitted that suspension of classes was equivalent to declaring a holiday.

"The authorities of aided or sponsored schools cannot ask the teachers to attend schools during holidays. So the memo (asking the teachers to attend school) issued by the Deshapriya Balika Vidyalaya authorities should be set aside."

Appearing for the school, advocate Sanghamitra Nandy submitted that teachers should attend school even when classes were suspended for academic work other than teaching.

"Teachers can set questions, examine answer scripts and prepare results of internal exams on days classes are suspended."

After hearing both sides, Justice Basak, said: "The school authorities are bound to abide by government circular. The memo issued by school authorities on June 8, 2015, is set aside. The school authorities will not treat the teachers absent between June 8 and June 15 last year."

The state government had suspended classes several times during summer over the past few years to provide respite to the children from intense heat. Bari said the order would be treated as a precedent for other schools, too.