India, Aug. 24 -- The Bombay High Court on Thursday held that salaries of teachers cannot be withheld for refusing to register or open an account in the National Pension Scheme (NPS), observing that Article 21 of the Constitution of India, which guarantees the right to livelihood as an integral part of right to life, cannot be subjected to individual fancies of the persons in authority.

"The management having availed the petitioners' services cannot be permitted to decline salaries to them. This is nothing but exploitation amounting to depriving a person of his/her right to livelihood," a division bench of Justices GS Kulkarni and Dr Neela Gokhale said.

The court was hearing a petition filed by three primary school teachers of a school ...