Justice N. Kirubakaran of the Madras High Court on Monday made a fervent appeal to government school teachers to suspend their strike till the end of the current academic year.
The judge asked the Joint Action Council of Tamil Nadu Teachers’ Organisations and Government Employees’ Organisations (Jactto-Geo) to respond to his appeal by Tuesday.
During the hearing of a related case, he was informed that a Division Bench, led by Justice M. Sathyanarayanan, had on Wednesday directed the teachers to return to work forthwith and adjourned a PIL petition to February 18
 Similarly, a Bench, led by Justice K.K. Sasidharan, at the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, had simply adjourned a case to February 18.
Making it clear that he, as a single judge, did not want to encroach upon the powers of the two Division Benches, which were already seized of the matter, Justice Kirubakaran said his endeavour was only to see to it that students did not suffer due to the ongoing strike, especially when the annual examinations were around the corner.