Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, May 2: The High Court has allowed the plea of the Government seeking withdrawal of benefits of SRO 59 and granting higher pay scale to the employees of Jal Shakti Department erroneously but restrained to recover the amount from them which they have received under the SRO.
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The division bench of Justice Sanjeev Kumar and Justice Sanjay Parihar has partly allowed the plea of Government filed through Commissioner Secretary Department with other subordinate officials challenging the CAT verdict whereby the department directed not to withdraw the benefits of SRO 59 of 1990 or make recoveries from the employees of the Jal Shakti department.
The bench said that the judgment passed by the Tribunal deserves to be upheld in so far as the recoveries from the employees of the department are concerned, but needs to be modified to the extent it prevents the department from correcting the mistake for future and refixing the salary and pension of these employees.
“The petitioners-department shall be well within their right to correct the mistake and refix the salary or pensionary benefits as the case may be, by withdrawing the benefit of SRO 59 erroneously extended to its employees. With this modification, the judgment impugned is upheld and this petition disposed of, accordingly”, the DB concluded.
These employees are working as Assistant Linesman in the Public Health Engineering Department and some of them have retired, whereas others are still in service. Vide SRO 59 of 1990 issued by the Government, it was decided to rationalize pay scales of various posts in the PHE Department, including those held by the respondents.
The Chief Engineer, Jal Shakti Department on 21st of November, 2016 directed the subordinate officers to implement SRO 59 of 1990 and give the benefit of higher pay scales to the eligible employees, including these class IV employees who are 51 in number.
Later on, as it appears, the matter came to the notice of Director Finance, PHE, (I&FC Department) in 2019, who vide its communication dated 29th of January, 2019 found the benefit of SRO 59 erroneously extended to these employees and directed the recovery of benefits granted to the respondents.
The department pleaded that the benefit of SRO 59 of 1990 was extended to these employees erroneously and by an incompetent authority and, therefore, nothing would stop them to take corrective measures and withdraw the benefits.
The employees challenged the action before the CAT and their plea was allowed by directing the department not to withdraw the benefits of SRO 59 or make recoveries from them. The DB however, upheld the CAT judgment insofar it relates to the recoveries but left it free for the department to correct the mistake of granting benefits of SRO 59.
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