RIYADH, 25 June 2007 — An Indian driver at the International Indian School-Riyadh (IISR), who has been suspended for alleged misconduct, has filed a case against the school for nonpayment of a half-month salary during each of the 32-month suspension period since Nov. 1, 2004.
Abdul Raheem Ibrahim Kutty, the driver, has also sought the intervention of the Riyadh governorate for the redressal of his grievance against the school.
In its verdict, the Labor Court favored an out-of-court settlement to the mutual satisfaction of both parties. IISR made the first move by offering to pay SR13,000 for the three-year period. Raheem said the amount was inadequate and did not take into account the half-month pay during each of the 32 months when he was suspended. He also said that the school had tried to weaken his case by filing false affidavits.
The case dates back to the time of M.L.R. Jaffrey, the then director of IISR, when he, along with several others, suffered lost iqamas when the documents were in the custody of Naif Al-Mashary, the school’s expediter who was charged with renewing them.
Abdul Raheem claims that he paid a total of SR8,800 for transfer and renewal fees. In any case, both his money and the iqama disappeared. He blames Jaffrey on the grounds that he was acting on Jaffrey’s advice.
Abdul Raheem told Arab News he lodged a complaint against the then director of IISR. To his misfortune, his representation happened to be the lone protest against Jaffrey.
In the meantime, he said, a false charge was framed against him by two employees of IISR claiming that he had manhandled his colleague, P.M. Mohammed, a fellow driver, during an altercation. The latter produced even two witnesses to back up his claim. However, according to Abdul Raheem, it was a frame-up masterminded by Jaffrey in an act of revenge for daring to cross his path.
Subsequently, he was suspended. Abdul Raheem said that with no salary and no iqama (except the court papers) for the last nearly three years, he has been eking out a miserable existence amid the stresses and strains of the ongoing litigation.
V.V. Narayanan, the former first secretary at the Indian Embassy, tried to bring his case to a just conclusion. But all such efforts were thwarted by the unhelpful attitude of the school administration, Abdul Raheem said.
