The high court on Thursday directed the education department to disburse pension dues with 9 per cent interest to a schoolteacher who retired in 2012.

The education department had in 2015 denied pension to Taraknath Chandra of Dum Dum for allegedly producing a “suspicious” MA certificate.

Justice Rajasekhar Mantha of Calcutta High Court observed that education department employees had committed a crime “by humiliating and harassing a person who had served the nation for long 30 years” and directed the department to identify those employees and realise the interest from their salaries.

Chandra joined Sahid Rameswar Vidyamandir on Jessore Road in 1982. Three years later, he did a one-year condensed MA course from Rabindra Bharati University. Chandra’s salary was hiked in keeping with his advanced educational qualifications and he continued to get the revised salary till retirement in 2012.

On Chandra’s retirement, the education department declined to disburse his pension.

“The education department claimed that the MA certificate was suspicious and needed verification. The government’s counsel had claimed my client had studied for only one year to obtain an MA degree,” advocate Ekramul Bari said.

The court had, in 2015, asked the state to disburse provisional pension to Chandra but the education department allegedly failed to do so.

The state’s counsel, Chaitali Bhattacharya, told the court that provisional pension of Rs 12 lakh had been disbursed and would reach the teacher soon.