The Allahabad High Court has directed the state government to pay a minimum wage of Rs 18,000 as per the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission to all the daily wage workers and muster roll employees working in the Forest Department. A Single Bench of Justice Ajit Kumar passed this order while hearing a petition filed by Vijay Kumar Srivastava. The petitioners in the bunch of writ petitions are all either daily wage employees working with the forest department or the employees who have been conferred upon with the benefit of minimum pay scale of the 7th Pay Commission Recommendations as a consequence to the order passed on 17.11.2018. The controversy is as to the continuance of daily wage employees with the forest department and their rights for entitlement of minimum of the basic pay as admissible to Group D employees firstly by the Court and then in SLP by the Supreme Court in the case of State of UP and others v Putti Lal disposing of the civil appeals and the special leave petitions on the question of regularisation and payment of the minimum of the pay scale to daily wage workers/ muster roll employees under the forest department. It transpires that the pace with which the forest department ought to have considered the suitability of its daily wage workers/muster roll employees in the light of the Regularisation Rules, 2001, it did not and so resultantly the employees were not regularized in time and hence continued to be paid a fixed amount only. Facing the show cause notice, the State Government issued a Government Order on 20.03.2023 to the effect that the said Government Order would stand amended to the extent that the petitioner would be paid minimum Rs18000/- with effect from 01.04.2018. It is in the above circumstances that the Court recorded that fair stand was taken by the State Government as was disclosed by Sri Manoj Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Forest that the State Government would examine the matter and would do the needful and accordingly, personal appearance of the officer concerned was exempted in the order dated 21.03.2023. But it appears and so also is claimed that nothing further transpired in the matter as such and those who are getting minimum of the pay scale as per the Sixth Pay Commission Recommendations and those who were to be regularised and were to be paid arrears and those daily wagers who were entitled to the benefit of minimum pay scale and consideration for regularisation in view of the judgment of the Supreme Court in the case of Putti Lal (supra), were neither benefited with regularisation nor, all were paid minimum of the pay scale and even those who were getting their payments have been stopped and resultantly all these petitioners are before the Court in the bunch of petitions. The Court observed that, Having carefully examined the order dated 29.09.2023, the stand of the State Government and its Finance Department appears to be that they do not want to make payment of the minimum of the pay scale as admissible to Group D employees, to the Daily Wage Workers/muster roll employees of the Forest Department on one hand and on the other hand they do not want to consider their claim for regularisation. This stand taken by the State Government, in my considered view, is a gross contempt of the directives issued by the Supreme Court in the case of Putti Lal (supra) and the Court in Mohan Swaroop’s case. This stand of the State is also a further contempt as earlier also in the first round of contempt that was litigated upto Supreme Court, the Sixth Pay Commission Recommendation was finally allowed and Government paid it. So now the Seventh Pay Commission Recommendations benefit to enhance minimum pay cannot be denied. In my considered view the order dated 08.03.2018 also violates the mandate contained in the order of the Supreme Court in Putti Lal’s case. However, if it is coming in the way of the respondent State Government and Forest Department in implementing the directives issued by the Supreme Court and by the Court in the earlier round of litigations, the said order dated 08.03.2018, if it still exists, is hereby stayed. Further since a stand has been taken by the counsel appearing for the petitioners that even those employees who are working and have previously obtained benefit under Sixth Pay Commission Recommendations by way of minimum basic pay, their payments have been stopped, this also in my considered view amounts to contempt. Those daily wage workers who have been drawing only Rs 7000/- are entitled to the minimum basic pay as per the Seventh Pay Commission Recommendations at par with other daily wage workers/muster roll employees. The Court further observed that, It is worth noticing here that the Uttar Pradesh Group D Employees Regularisation Rules came into existence in the year 2001 and the Supreme Court had noticed these Rules as framed under Proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution, in Putti Lal’s case and so all these petitioners who have been working since prior to the cut off date given in the Regularisation Rules 2001, ought to have been regularised. Merely because the said rules have been superseded by 2016 Rules, it cannot be said that now in view of Rule 10 of the new Rules their claim will not be considered. Rule 10 would come into play only when the suitability test is applied and the candidate is not found suitable to be regularised. The Forest Department seems to have repeatedly requested for laying down the guidelines for regularisation but that has not been acceded to by the State Government till date. In the circumstances unless and until regularisation of all these daily wage workers/muster roll employees who have been working over two decades with the Forest Department are considered and their claims are disposed of, these workers/employees are liable to be continued in employment with the minimum basic pay @ Rs 18000/- as per the Seventh Pay Commission Recommendations in the light of the directives issued in the Putti Lal’s case. Accordingly, the Court directed the respondents to correct themselves particularly the Finance Department of State of Uttar Pradesh and the Forest Department and all such petitioners and similarly situated workers/employees be paid minimum of basic pay @ Rs18000/- in compliance of the judgment of the Supreme Court in the case of Putti Lal until their claim for regularisation is disposed of by framing guidelines to examine their suitability, failing which the Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) Government of Uttar Pradesh and Additional Chief Secretary (Forest), Uttar Pradesh shall be appearing in person to show cause as to why charges may not be framed for deliberately and willfully violating the judgments and orders of the Court and of Supreme Court, for contempt including criminal contempt for violation of undertakings given before the Court earlier and also making statement now that the order cannot be complied with as there is a separation of power between the Judiciary and the Executive and the payment of salary and its determination lies within the domain of Executives, and this matter may not be referred for appropriate prosecution.
State govt should pay minimum wage as per 7th Pay Commission recommendations to all daily wagers: Allahabad High Court
