Delhi High Court - Orders
Anita Walia & Ors vs Directorate Of Education & Ors on 31 October, 2023
Author: Chandra Dhari Singh
Bench: Chandra Dhari Singh
$~66
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ W.P.(C) 14124/2023 & CM APPL No. 55857/2023
ANITA WALIA & ORS. ..... Petitioners
Through: Mr. J.S. Bedi and Mr. Amarpreet
Singh Bhalla, Advocates.
versus
DIRECTORATE OF EDUCATION & ORS. ..... Respondents
Through: Mr. Abinash Kumar Mishra and Mr.
Gaurav Kumar Pandey, Advocates
for R-2 to 6.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE CHANDRA DHARI SINGH
ORDER
% 31.10.2023
1. The instant petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has been filed on behalf of petitioners seeking the following reliefs:-
"a) Issue a writ of mandamus, order or direction, directing the Respondent No.1 to calculate arrears towards salary (due and drawn statement) from 2006 to till date/retirement and to calculate TA, DA, 6CPC & 7CPC Arrears Gratuity and leave encashment.
b) Issue a writ of mandamus, order or direction, directing the Respondent No. 2 to 6 to release the terminal benefits to the Petitioner which includes gratuity as per caping of Rs. 20 Lakhs, leave encashment, arrears towards 6th Pay Commission, Arrears of DA and TA from 2014 till retirement, Implementation and release arrears towards 7th Pay Commission with interest;
c) Issue a writ a mandamus, order or direction, direct the respondent No 2 to6 to release pending 40% salary to petitioner from Jan, 2020 to Feb 2021 with Interest of 9% per annum till the date of release of arrears of pending salary.
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d) Issue a writ a mandamus, pass similar Judgment W.P. (C) 3746/2020 and connected matters titled as Shikha Sharma V/s GHPS & Ors "The arrears thereof under the 6th CPC shall be paid to the petitioners with interest at the rate of 6% per annum. The arrears of 7th CPC shall not carry any interest. The fixation of pay and arrears shall be made / paid within a period of six months from today. All retiral benefits shall also be fixed and released to the petitioners, who have retired from their service within six months from today. As an immediate assistance, the respondents / DSGMC / GHPS Society / GHPS shall release an amount of ₹5 Lacs to each of the retirees within one month, subject to adjustment at the time of full payment. It is made clear that the failure to pay the amounts within six months as directed above shall entail payment of a higher interest of 9% per annum on the arrears of both 6th and 7th CPC and retiral benefits."
e) pass such other order or orders as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the present case."
2. In the instant petition, the petitioners herein have prayed for issuance of appropriate direction/writ to the respondent, in order to release the retirement benefits including gratuity, leave encashment, arrears towards Sixth Pay Commission, arrears towards enhanced DA from 2014 to till date of resignation, arrears towards TA, arrears towards Seventh Pay Commission, salary for the period from April'20 to Feb'21 to the petitioners.
3. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioners submitted that the instant case is fairly covered by the judgment delivered by this Court in case titled Shikha Sharma v. Guru HarkrishanPublic School, 2021 SCC OnLine Del 5011 and further submitted that and further submitted that the This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 03/11/2023 at 22:22:42 instant petition may be disposed of in light of the abovesaid judgment directions
4. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent school has not contradicted the submissions made by the petitioner qua the prayer of disposal of the present petition in light of Shikha Sharma (Supra).
5. Having heard the counsels appearing for both parties, this Court is of the opinion that the instant petition is squarely covered by Shikha Sharma (Supra), relevant paragraphs of the same are reproduced herein:
"26. So, it is clear that the pay and allowances of the employees of unaided minority Schools cannot be less than those of the employees of the Government run Schools. There is no dispute that the benefits of 6 th and 7thCPC have been given to the employees of the Government run Schools. If that be so, the employees of the unaided minority Schools are also entitled to get the benefits of the recommendations as made by the 6 th and 7th OF THE CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE, 1908 reports. So, this plea of Mr. Abinash Kumar Mishra is liable to be rejected. The plea of Mr. Mishra, that till such time the DoE grants approval to the Schools to collect the arrears of fees, the Schools must not be directed to pay the benefits of 7th CPC is concerned, the same is unmerited. The employees are entitled to equal pay and other benefits, by operation of Section 10 of the DSE Act, in other words, by operation of law, the said benefits are payable. The same does not pre-suppose the approval being granted by the Director to the Schools to claim higher fee or arrears thereof.
xxx xxx xxx
28. Following the aforesaid judgment, even this Court in the case pertaining to grant of arrears of salary also granted similar reliefs to the petitioners in Shashi Kiran v. Siddharth International Public School, W.P.(C) No. 2734/2021; Rambir Singh Malik v. Greenfields Public School, W.P.(C) 9486/2020;
This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 03/11/2023 at 22:22:43 and Inderpreet Kaur v. Directorate of Education, W.P.(C) 4127/2020. This Court in a recent judgment in the case of Amrita Pritam v.S.S. Mota Singh Junior Model School, W.P.(C) 1335/2019 dated September 22, 2021 has granted the benefits of the 7 th CPC along with arrears to the petitioners therein. I may state here that an appeal has been preferred against the said judgment being S.S. Mota Singh Junior Model School v.Directorate of Education, Government of NCT of Delhi LPA 399/2021, however, the Division Bench has not stayed operation of the judgment in W.P.(C) 1335/2019 dated September 22, 2021. That apart, I find despite giving an undertaking to this Court and also this Court passing orders from time to time, unfortunately the benefits of the 6th CPC have not been granted. This Court is of the view that, apart from the undertaking given and also in view of the orders passed in the petitions referred to above, the petitioners are entitled to the benefits of the 6th and 7th CPC in law as well.
29. Accordingly, these writ petitions need to be allowed and the respondent/DSGMC/GHPS Society/GHPS are directed to, re- fix the salaries and other emoluments of the petitioners under 6th and 7th CPC in accordance with the rules. It is made clear that the DSGMC/GHPS Society shall ensure the compliance of the orders passed by this Court. I take note of the submission made by Mr. Misra that neither DSGMC nor the GHPS Society in any case have any statutory liability under the provisions of the DSE Act/Rules to grant the benefits of the 6th and 7 th CPC but the fact remains that the DSGMC was being represented by their functionaries in these proceedings and even the undertakings were given on behalf of DSGMC in the proceedings before this Court and as such cannot absolve itself, from ensuring that the benefits of the 6th and 7 th CPC are given to the petitioners. This direction is in the facts of the cases more specifically where the claim of the petitioners is with regard to the grant of the benefit under the 6th and 7th CPC and connected issues. The petitioners shall also be entitled to arrears of pay in view of fixation of their pay under the 6th and 7th CPC, upto the date of payment subject to adjustment of salary already paid. 30. The arrears thereof This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 03/11/2023 at 22:22:43 under the 6th CPC shall be paid to the petitioners with interest at the rate of 6% per annum. The arrears of 7th CPC shall not carry any interest. The fixation of pay and arrears shall be made/paid within a period of six months from today. ......... It is made clear that the failure to pay the amounts within six months as directed above shall entail payment of a higher interest of 9% per annum on the arrears of both 6th and 7th CPC and retiral benefits."
6. In light of the aforementioned discussions of facts and the settled law, this Court, in regard to the issue pertaining to TA/DA, hereby issues the following directions for redressal of the petitioners' grievances:
a. The DoE shall in consultation with GHPS, pass an order on the issue of grant of transport and dearness allowance due to the petitioners' in terms of 6th and 7th Pay Commission Report, as applicable. b. The DoE shall convey about the decision taken by it in consultation with GHPS to the petitioners herein, within 10 weeks from today. c. In the event it is found that the benefits as sought by the petitioners are payable, the same shall be released to the petitioners within six months thereafter.
d. Petitioners will be entitled to interest @ 6% per annum during the pendency of this petition and till the arrears are paid.
7. The instant Writ petition stand disposed of in view of the aforesaid terms. Pending applications also stand disposed of.
CHANDRA DHARI SINGH, J OCTOBER 31, 2023 pa/ds Click here to check corrigendum, if any This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 03/11/2023 at 22:22:44