Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Aug 1: The High Court has quashed the Government order declining to change pay scale of High Court employees and directed the Government to give pay scale to the employees of the court as is being similarly placed to employees of other High Courts of the country.
The writ petition was filed by the almost 70 petitioners who are employees of the J&K High Court and are/were working as Jamadars, Orderlies and peons in the Court and with the conditions of service governed by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Staff (Conditions of Service) Rules.
Their grievance was that they are in the pay scale of 65-100 (Jamadar) and 65-80 (Orderly) while their grade pay was revised from time to time and are drawing salary in the grade pay of 2610-3540 and 2550-3200 respectively. They submitted that Article 214 of the Constitution of India and the analogous provision of Section 93 of Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, deal with matters relating to staff, officers and servants of the High Court.
Their contention was that persons similarly placed in the service of Delhi High Court are in the pay scale of 3200-4900 and that the petitioners are deprived of that pay scale for which they are legally entitled to, as their service conditions are similar to the Jamadars and Orderlies working in the Delhi High Court.
Division Bench comprising Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Rajesh Sekhri while allowing their plea and quashing the committee constituted by the Government directed to forthwith resort the procedure as laid down in Article 229 and comply with the report prepared by the Committee constituted by the Chief Justice which held that parity in pay structure as already reflected be given to the employees of this Court in consonance with those who are similarly employed with the High Courts of Delhi and Punjab & Haryana.
It is also relevant to mention here that the report of the committee constituted by the Chief Justice was sent to the Law Department way back in the year 2017 and no objections or opinion of the Governor was ever filed in this case which only goes to show that the Governor had no objections to the recommendations of the Committee.
The DB directed the parity of pay grade be done within a period of four weeks from the date the copy of this Order is served upon respondents, thereafter compliance report be filed before the Registrar Judicial of this Court.
The Committee which was constituted vide Government Order No. 562-GAD of 2019 dated 09.05.2019 under the chairmanship of Principal Secretary to the Government, Finance Department met on 16.05.2019 had recommended that pay scales of the post of High Court of Jammu and Kashmir cannot be changed as it will lead to similar claims from other employees of the erstwhile State.
The committee had also recommended that keeping in view the different nature of work staff of the High Court “special Pay” equivalent to 10% of the basic pay may be allowed in favour of the employees of the High Court and the ‘special pay’ shall remain at distinct element and shall not be merged with the basic pay.”
The DB while referring Clause 2 of Article 229 provides that subject to any provision of law made by the Legislature of the State, the conditions of service of the officers and the servants of the High Court may be such, as may be prescribed by rules made by the Chief Justice of the Court or some other Judge so authorized by the Chief Justice.
The DB further added that Government under the said Article would have to take into consideration the special nature of work undertaken by the High Court which the Chief Justice and his colleagues alone could appreciate and if the State does not meet the needs of the High Court, the administration of the High Court itself could be jeopardized.
The DB therefore, quashed the constitution of the Committee by the UT and clarified that the Committee shall cease forthwith to look into the correctness of the proposal put forth by the Chief Justice of this Court and shall ensure that the same is dealt strictly in accordance with the provisions of Article 229 of the Constitution of India.
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