Employees working at marginal pay cannot be left open ended: HC asks Haryana to give salaries of contractual staff
The counsel for the state submitted to the court that the component (60%) of grant-in-aid to be received from the Centre has not been received so far, and as and when this component is received, the salary of the petitioners will be released.
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The court directed the government to ensure that the arrears of the salary payable to the petitioner and future salary is paid timely. Taking strong exception to the non-disbursal of salaries to contractual employees, the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the Haryana government to release the salary of an employee by August 30 this year.
The court also warned that if the directive is not complied with, ‘the salaries of two of its officers will not be disbursed except with the leave of this court.’
The directions come after Deepak Kumar and other contractual employees working for an organisation under the Public Health Engineering Department moved the HC. The court was informed that their salaries have not been released for the past four months.
The counsel for the state submitted to the court that the component (60%) of grant-in-aid to be received from the Centre has not been received so far, and as and when this component is received, the salary of the petitioners will be released.
However, Justice Vinod S Bhardwaj said, “I fail to find myself in agreement with the aforesaid reason assigned by the respondents (government) for withholding the payment. The salary of employee has not been made contingent upon the receipt of the funds from the government of India.”
The Justice said, “Once it is not denied that the employee is working under the direct supervision, control and governance of the Haryana government and is subject to disciplinary and other regulatory mechanisms of the State, the primary responsibility falls upon the employer to ensure that the salaries are disbursed in a timely manner whether or not it has received the grant. The person discharging duties has been made to work during the entire period under the project which has neither been abandoned nor stopped. Besides, the 40 per cent component was none-the-less to be contributed by the state.”
“The employees, who are working at marginalised salaries, cannot be left open ended receipt of the funds as and when the state desires,” said the judge.
The court directed the government to ensure that the arrears of the salary payable to the petitioner and future salary is paid timely. “The arrears be cleared on or before August 30, 2025, failing which the salary of the Additional Chief Secretary (public health engineering department) as well as the Engineer-in-Chief be not disbursed except with the leave of this Court,” ordered the court.
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