Issue: Equal Pay for Equal Work –
Court of Adjudicature: Hon'ble High Court of
Allahabad .
Parties Bhawani Prasad Sahu and 8 Ors v. State of U.P.,Case details: Writ appeal No. 167 of 2014.Citation: (Allahabad) 2023(1) All WC 722 : 2023(1) ADJ 638Date of Decision : 14.12.2022.
Decision : ….once the employer is same, mode of recruitment, qualification for the post, nature of work and other responsibilities are same, such employees shall be governed by principal of 'equal pay for equal work', and there cannot be any denial of similar pay scale on any ground- PARA 16.
Case/Judgement referred by the Hon’ble Court :
1. Randhir
Singh v. Union of India (1982) 1 SCC 618
2. Secretary,
Finance Department v. West Bengal Registration Service Association, [1993] Supp
I SCC 153.
3. State
of Haryana v. Haryana Civil Secretariat Personal Staff Association (2022) 6 SCC
72.
4. State
of Madhya Pradesh v. Seema Sharma Civil Appeal No. 3892 of 2022.
5. State
of Punjab v. Jagjit Singh (2017) 1 SCC 148.
Prayer before Hon’ble Court:
"(i) Issue a writ, order or direction in
the nature of certiorari quashing the impugned order dated 7.4.2011, 8.12.2010,
22.9.2009, 7.10.2010, 11.3.2011, 30.12.2011, 1.4.2012 passed by the opposite
parties as contained at Annexure No.1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7.
(ii) Issue a writ, order or direction in the
nature of mandamus commanding the opposite parties to fix the pay scale of the
petitioners equal to the pay scale of generator operator of Irrigation
Department i.e. Rs. 4000-100-Rs.6000 with effect from 1.1.1996."
Arguments before Hon’ble Court by Petitioner/s:
1. Controversy
is arising due to discrimination of pay scale of the similarly situated
employees in two departments of State of U.P., i.e. Public Works Department (in
short PWD) and Irrigation Department.
2. Petitioners
as well as generator operator of Irrigation Department are performing same
duty, but petitioners were deprived from the pay scale of Rs.4000-6000/- and
being paid the pay scale of Rs.3050-4590/-.
3. Irrigation
Department and PWD, both are department of State of U.P. and petitioners as
well as generator operators of Irrigation Department are performing same work
and duty, therefore, petitioners are also entitled for same pay scale as given
to generator operators of Irrigation Department running the generators of over
and above of 50 KVA.
4. Case
laws relied:
a. Apex
Court in the case of Randhir Singh v. Union of India and others reported in
(1982) 1 SCC 618, where Apex Court has held that if two departments are
under control of one Government and employees are having similar duty, no
discrimination can be made in their salary and both sets of employees would be
governed by principal of 'equal pay for equal work' and entitled for same
salary.
b. Apex
Court in the matter of State of Punjab and others v. Jagjit Singh and others
reported in (2017) 1 SCC 148.
Arguments before Hon’ble Court by Respondent/s:
c. Petitioners
cannot claim parity of pay scale as a matter of right.
d. Merely
similarity of designation or quantum of work cannot be a ground for equality of
pay scale.
e. Placed
reliance upon the judgment of Apex Court in the matter of State of Madhya
Pradesh v. Seema Sharma passed in Civil Appeal No. 3892 of 2022.
f. Fixation
of pay scale and determination of parity in duties is the function of the
executive and scope of judicial review is very limited.
g. Placed reliance upon the judgment of the Apex
Court in the case of State of Haryana and another v. Haryana Civil
Secretariat Personal Staff Association reported in (2022) 6 SCC 72.
Questions by Hon’ble Court to Respondent/s:
h. Could
not dispute this fact that Irrigation Department and PWD are the department of
State of U.P. with equal status headed by Principal Secretary.
i. Could
not point out any difference about the nature of appointment of petitioners in
PWD and other employees in Irrigation Department.
j. Other
Factual submissions so argued by the learned counsel for the petitioners could
also not be disputed by the learned Standing Counsel.
Judgment of Hon’ble Court with reasoning and
Judgments relied upon:
k. Apex
Court in the case of State of U.P. v. Randheer Singh (supra) and Apex Court has
taken clear cut view that if two departments are under control of one
Government and employees are having similar duty, no discrimination can be made
in their salary and both sets of employees would be governed by principal of
'equal pay for equal work
l. State
of Punjab and others v. Jagjit Singh,…The principle of 'equal pay for
equal work', applies to cases of unequal scales of pay, based on no
classification or irrational classification…
m. Federation
of All India Customs and Central Excise Stenographers (Recognized) case.
n. Mewa Ram Kanojia case.
o. Grih Kalyan Kendra Workers' Union case.
p. S.C. Chandra case.
q. Secretary,
Finance Department v. West Bengal Registration Service Association and Ors.,
[1993] Supp I SCC 153.
0 Comments