Himachal Pradesh High Court
Shri Sandeep Kumar And Ors vs State Of H.P And Ors on 11 December, 2018
Author: Sandeep Sharma
Bench: Sandeep Sharma
IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA.
CWP No. 1720 of 2017
Decided on: 11.12.2018
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Shri Sandeep Kumar and Ors. ...........Petitioners
Versus
State of H.P and Ors. ..........Respondents
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Coram:
Hon'ble Mr. Justice Sandeep Sharma, Judge.
Whether approved for reporting? 1
For the Petitioners : Mr. A.K. Gupta, Advocate.
For the Respondents : Mr. S.C. Sharma, Mr. Dinesh Thakur and
Mr. Sanjeev Sood, Additional Advocate
Generals with Mr. Amit Dhumal, Deputy
Advocate General.
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Sandeep Sharma, Judge (oral):
By way of instant petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, prayer has been made on behalf of the petitioners, who are the employees of The Hanogi Mata Temple, District Mandi, H.P., to issue direction to the respondents to pay them Dearness Allowance (DA).
2. Factum with regard to petitioners being employee of Hanogi Mata Temple, which is being managed by respondent No.2 i.e. the Hanogi Mata Temple Trust through its Commissioner (Deputy Commissioner-cum-Collector), Mandi, District Mandi, H.P., is not in dispute, rather Deputy Commissioner in his reply has categorically admitted that 1 Whether the reporters of the local papers may be allowed to see the judgment?
::: Downloaded on - 12/12/2018 22:57:04 :::HCHP 2the petitioners are the employees of Hanogi Mata Temple Trust, however, Deputy Commissioner in his reply has stated that pay scale, grade pay .
and allowances are paid to the petitioners by the temple Trust and it is not possible to provide DA to the petitioners at par with the employees of Himachal Pradesh Government due to weak financial position of the Trust.
3. As per affidavit filed by the Deputy Commissioner, pay scale grade pay and other allowances are being paid to the petitioners by the Temple Trust from the income of the Trust. It has been further stated in affidavit having been filed on behalf of the respondents that financial position of the Trust after 2013 is not good and as such, Trust is not in position to provide DA to the petitioners.
4. Though this Court is in agreement with the contentions raised by Mr. A.K. Gupta, learned counsel representing the petitioners that payment of minimum pay would mean basic pay plus grade pay plus DA, but having taken note of the fact that the petitioners are employees of the Trust and not of the Government, this Court cannot issue direction to the State to pay DA to the petitioners at par with the State government employees. No doubt, management of Hanogi Mata Temple has been taken over by the State of Himachal Pradesh under Charitable Endowment Act for its better management, but for that purpose, Trust has been formed and as such, it cannot be said that temple is being run by ::: Downloaded on - 12/12/2018 22:57:04 :::HCHP 3 the State of Himachal Pradesh, rather its day-to-day affairs/management are being managed/controlled by the trust, which is headed by the SDM .
of the area concerned.
5. At this stage, Mr. A.K. Gupta, learned counsel contented that employees of other temples, which have been taken over by the State of H.P. under the Act, are being paid DA alongwith basic pay and as such, petitioners are also entitled for the same.
6. Mr. Sanjeev Sood, learned Additional Advocate General, while refuting the aforesaid contention made by the learned counsel for the petitioners contended that payment, if any, of DA by the Trust would depend upon the income of the particular Trust, but in the present case, income of the Hanogi Mata Temple is so meager that there is no possibility at all to pay DA to the petitioners. While inviting attention of this Court to the latest instructions received by him from the Deputy Commissioner, pursuant to direction issued by this Court, learned Additional Advocate General contended that in view of the ongoing four lane work at National Highway-21 from Ner Chawk to Manali, there is likelihood of further decrease in income of the temple because route would be diverted and definitely, there would be shortfall of the visitors to the Temple.
7. Consequently, in view of the above, this court deems it fit to dispose of the present petition with the following directions:
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a. Petitioners herein shall file representation to the respondent No.1 praying therein for grant of DA as is being paid to their counterparts in other trusts within a period of three weeks.
b. Representation, if any, filed by the petitioners shall be decided by the concerned authority within a period of three weeks thereafter. Needless to say decision shall be taken by the authorities taking note of service conditions of the petitioners, who have been rendering their services in the temple for quite a considerable time.
c. Liberty is reserved to the petitioners to approach the Court in case if they are still aggrieved.
8. In the aforesaid terms, present petition stands disposed of, so also pending application(s), if any.
11th December, 2018 (Sandeep Sharma),
manjit Judge
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