Madhya Pradesh High Court: G.S. Ahluwalia, J., directed the respondents to give the benefits of a classified permanent employee to the petitioner.
The petitioner filed a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India asking the Court to direct the respondents to pay him the salary as per the pay scale of the post of Helper to Carpenter. On 03-08-1982, the petitioner held the post of Helper to Carpenter on a daily wage basis. The respondent issued an order in 2004 for classification of daily rated employees to have permanent status and later in 2005, they were classified as a permanent employee. The petitioner requested the court to direct the respondents to release his regular salary along with all benefits of his permanent status pursuant to the classification.
The Court relied the Supreme Court’s judgment on Ram Naresh Rawat v. Ashwini Ray, 2017 (3) SCC 436 to discuss the law in regard to the benefits flowing from an order of classification. Once a person is conferred the status of permanent employee by the court and it is held by the Court that they are entitled to regular pay attached to the said post, not only the pay should be fixed in the regular pay-scale, they would also be entitled to the increments and other emoluments attached to the said post. For the same reason, it is necessary to determine whether these employees can be treated as ‘regular’ employees in view of the aforesaid classification? A ‘permanent employee’ has the right to receive pay in the graded pay-scale, but they will receive the minimum of the said pay-scale with no increments. It is only the regularization in service which would entail grant of increments etc. in the pay-scale. The Court also discussed that the State Government grants increments while fixing the pay scale.
The Court disposed of the petition by holding that the petitioner must be paid the minimum pay scale admissible to the post on which he was classified as a permanent employee without any increment. [Ashok v. State of M.P., 2019 SCC OnLine MP 1959, decided on 09-08-2019]
