Different salary for the same work on the basis of different mode of appointment: What to do for equal pay? I am a teacher in the inter college where five posts are sanctioned for the science teacher. Only one teacher is appointed through the public service commission and rest four are ad hoc teachers and appointed on the contract basis. The regular teacher is receiving salary more than one lakh rupees per month and we the contractual teachers are withdrawing a fixed salary i.e. twenty thousand per month. No other benefits are given to us. This is humiliating us. Can the government give different salary for the same work? Can I get equal pay for the equal work?
In the case of State of Punjab v. Jagjit Singh (2017) 1 SCC 148, the Honorable Supreme Court established guidelines to determine parity in the principle of "equal pay for equal work". According to the court's ruling, temporary employees are entitled to the minimum regular pay scale on the same principle of "equal pay for equal work".
You should give a representation to the concerned authority and pray for equal pay for the equal work. If fail to get any response from the concerned authority then you can file a writ petition in the high court under Article 226 of the constitution of India. Equal pay for equal work is a fundamental right upheld by the supreme court in Randhir Singh and D. S. Nakara case.
If the duties and responsibilities are same, then you are entitled to get same pay scale on the principle of equal pay for the equal work. Different mode of selection procedure does not form the basis for deprivation of fundamental right.
Some contractors are pressurizing the higher authority to terminate me from the service. I am incharge of the XX station and it is my duty to maintain smooth running of the station. Some contractors are flouting the license and engaged illegal salesmen in their shop. When an incident was happened for the extra demand of money from the vendors I investigated the matter, then I came to know that some contractors have engaged illegal salesmen on their shops. I immediately prepared a report and forwarded to the higher authority and at the same time suspended the license of the vendors. Those contractors have approached their political connections and sent several representations to the higher authority. Thereafter, they are pressurizing me and the concerned officer to terminate my services. Recently, I am suspended by the order of the CTA. What action could be taken to reverse this order?
After investigating a dispute that arose on your station over extra payment demanded by a vendor, you prepared a report and forwarded it to the competent authority for further action. The victims had brought the incident to your attention, and as the person with the authority and capacity to do so, you suspended the vendor's license.
However, the higher authority's suspension order now appears unjust and illegal since they did not provide you with any notice or intimation before passing the order. This deprived you of the opportunity to be heard, which violates the principle of natural justice.
Therefore, the suspension order should be quashed, and you may file an OA in the Central Administrative Tribunal for this purpose. There is no dispute towards the incident, your report and suspension of vendor's licenses. The suspension order has been passed under political pressure. If you able to prove the fact of political influence the CAT may quash the suspension order.
The department is trying to terminate my service on the ground of disability acquired during service however, I am still able to discharge another duty or function in the same department. When I was going to deliver a confidential post material to the head of the department in Delhi, I met an accident in front of Rail Bhawan. I was admitted in the AIIMS Delhi for three months. After discharging from the hospital, I went to my officer for joining but the deputy director has refused and said I am unable to discharge my field work. Hence, a relieving letter has been sent to the head of the department for further action. Sir, please help.
The department has no right and authority to terminate your service only on the ground of disability acquired during service. If a disabled government employee is declared fit to return to work but cannot perform the duties of their previous position, the first proviso to Section 47 of the PWD Act, 1995, can be used to address the situation.
According to section 47 of the PWD Act, 1995; no employee can be terminated, nor can he be reduced in rank in case the employee has acquired a disability during his service. In Kunal Singh v. Union of India, (2003) 4 SCC 524, Hon'ble Supreme Court has observed that the pay and service benefits of a disabled employee will be protected, and they may be transferred to a different position or placed on a supernumerary post until a suitable position becomes available or they reach the age of superannuation, whichever comes first.
The PWD Act 1995 has been repealed by the rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPwD Act, 2016) but the protection of service of disabled employee remains same. In Vikash Kumar v. Union Pulbic Service Commission, (2021) 5 SCC 370 the supreme court has directed the central government that:
if it is found that the petitioner is eligible to perform his duty, then, he may be permitted to undertake such duties. Further, if the petitioner is found to be unfit to perform the nature of duties, which he was performing before being disabled, then, he should be assigned/adjusted with such suitable duties which he would be able to discharge. if the petitioner is found incapable of performing any kind of duties, then, the respondents are under obligation and shall pay all service benefits including the promotion to the petitioner by creating a supernumerary post until a suitable post is available or he attains the age of superannuation;
Vikash Kumar v. Union Pulbic Service Commission
To seek the resumption of your service after a disability, you should file a writ petition in the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution and request the court to issue a directive to this effect. The state is obligated to assign you to a suitable position that you are capable of discharging.
Can high court permit re-evaluatin of answersheet. I have appeared in the examination conducted by the Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission. After clearing pre and written examination I appeared in the interview. But unfortunately, I failed to get position in final list. When the final list has published the commission has release the marks of the candidates appeared in the main and interview. I got less than expected mark in paper III & IV. I think that my answer sheet was not checked properly so I want to know whether the high court can direct the PSC to re-evaluate the answer sheets?
Asked from: Madhya Pradesh
If the relevant rules of the Commission provide for re-evaluation, then the high court may direct the PSC to re-evaluate your answer sheets. The high court while exercising writ jurisdiction sympathy or compassion does not play any role. hence, the high court restrict itself to the legal provisions which empowers the court to pass direction under Article 226 of constitution.
The rule of re-evaluation is settled by the supreme court in Pramod Kumar Srivastava v. Chairman, Bihar Public Service Commission, Patna, [JT 2004 SC 380]. The Supreme Court has held that In the absence of any provision for re-evaluation of answer-books in the relevant rules, no candidate in an examination has got any right whatsoever to claim or ask for re-evaluation of his marks.
The same has been reiterated by the supreme court in Ran Vijay Singh v. State of U.P., reported in (2018) 2 SCC 357 opined that in cases where a statute, rule, or regulation allows for the re-evaluation or scrutiny of an answer sheet during an examination, the court may direct the administering authority to re-evaluate the answer sheets.
In U.P.P.S.C. v. Rahul Singh (2018) 7 SCC 254 the court has described the limitation in respect of the direction to re-evaluation of answer books. The court said that if the governing statute, rule, or regulation does not expressly permit re-evaluation or scrutiny (rather than explicitly prohibiting it), the court may only allow re-evaluation or scrutiny in exceptional or rare cases where it is clearly and unequivocally demonstrated, without any need for inference or rationalization, that a significant error has occurred.
The re-evaluation of answer sheets for mains examinations is limited to verifying the accuracy of the marks allotted to each question, confirming whether all of the candidate's responses were evaluated, and checking for any errors in the marking process or scrutiny of the marks. Hence, for that purpose you can approach the high court under Article 226 of the constitution.
Also read: Remedy against arbitrary acts of government
BPCL submitted false and fabricated materials as a piece of evidence: Can I initiate a criminal proceeding against BPCL? I am a dealer of Bharat petroleum corporation ltd and running a petrol pump for 56 long years with clean records. I was not paid the LFR / commission for 25 years as agreed by BPCL which was paid for the first 2 years at the time of resettlement and quoting the Policy had withdrawn. The value of the LFR amounts to 2 crores with interest. The BPCL officials forced me to lease out the land which I was not willing to do. The Territory manager stopped the supplies on 23.06.2022 and asked not to use the facilities like pumps, tanks and equipment belonging to BPCL. They planned to expel me from my property and to operate the petrol pump under Company controlled basis.
On 01.07.2022 I remove the facilities/ items like Pump, Underground tanks, electrical item belongings of BPCL and kept outside the licensed premise and informed BPCL to clear the items which valued ₹ 17,31,138.00 as per their records and informed to clear the items with in 15 days which was not taken yet. Now the BPCL filed a damage claim for ₹ 17,31,138.00 in the civil court.
A valuation certificate was produced by the BPCL by the manager engineers Mr. Rupam quoting that the items were inspected by visiting the retail outlets site on19.09.2022 and certified that all the line items mentioned in above are not reusable and damaged beyond repairs.
We claim it is fabricating false evidence, false entry in any book, record, document, containing a false statement. This certificate is produced before the court for evidence in a judicial proceeding. He is a public servant. Whether we can file a criminal case in the magistrate court against him.
Justification: The said removed items were not in the premises as mentioned in the certificate. The premises were locked with CCTV and a security guard. The certificate was given to ₹17,31,138.00 of the entire value of items quoting which were damaged and beyond usable condition. The list of items varies physically as time to time replaced items are not updated by BPCL in their records and this proves that the certificate was done on their table. We have enough evidence to prove the same.
Kindly guide us in the matters whether we can file a criminal complaint against the Engineer and Territory Manager who instructed us to do the inspection as claimed by engineer Mr XXX.
It implies from the facts of your case that BPCL has filed false and fabricated evidence in support of its claim for damages. If you have evidence to prove that materials produced by the Plaintiff (BPCL) in support of its claim are false and fabricated, the Court has the power to initiate criminal proceedings against the Plaintiff for the offence of perjury.
The plaintiff has given that statement on oath. A person swearing to a false oath or affidavit is guilty of perjury punishable under section 193 of the Indian Penal Code. In R. Karuppan, Advocate, Suo Motu Proceedings against In re, (2001) 5 SCC 289 the supreme court has held that:
In India, law relating to the offence of perjury is given a statutory definition under Section 191 and Chapter XI of the Penal Code, 1860, incorporated to deal with the offences relating to giving false evidence against public justice. The offences incorporated under this Chapter are based upon recognition of the decline of moral values and erosion of sanctity of oath. Unscrupulous litigants are found daily resorting to utter blatant falsehood in the courts which has, to some extent, resulted in polluting the judicial system............Effective and stern action is required to be taken for preventing the evil of perjury, concededly let loose by vested interest and professional litigants. The mere existence of the penal provisions to deal with perjury would be a cruel joke with the society unless the courts stop to take an evasive recourse despite proof of the commission of the offence under Chapter XI of the Penal Code, 1860. If the system is to survive, effective action is the need of the time.
R. Karuppan, Advocate, Suo Motu Proceedings against In re, (2001) 5 SCC 289 [page 294]
In B.K. Gupta v. Damodar H. Bajaj, (2001) 9 SCC 742 the Supreme Court has opined that there are two conditions on fulfilment of which a complaint can be filed against a person who has given a false affidavit or evidence in a proceeding before a court. The first condition being that a person has given a false affidavit in a proceeding before the court and, secondly, in the opinion of the court it is expedient in the interest of justice to make an enquiry against such a person in relation to the offence committed by him.
Therefore, it is recommended that you file an application with the court, bringing attention to the false statements made by the plaintiff in their sworn affidavit. You can also request the court to take action under section 195 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and initiate criminal proceedings against the plaintiff for committing perjury.
Can I take any legal action against my wife and her parents for filing malicious litigation for divorce? My wife left me and went to London on a student visa. Before leaving, she wanted to obtain a divorce by mutual consent, and we signed an agreement under Section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act. However, in court, I stated that I did not want a divorce and that my wife and father-in-law had pressured me into signing the agreement. During the final arguments, my wife filed a withdrawal petition, and the case was dismissed.
Subsequently, I filed a suit in the family court seeking a declaration under Section 7 and Specific Relief Act 34 that the agreement was null and void. The judgment was declared ex-parte in my favor. Now, I am seeking advice on what legal action can be taken against my wife and her parents.
The Family Court has dismissed the suit for divorce by mutual consent, as it was found that your consent was not freely given. You have also obtained a declaration that the mutual consent deed filed under Section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act is void. If you still have a grievance against your wife and her parents, you may consider filing a civil suit seeking compensation for frivolous litigation, cost of litigation, mental agony, and loss of reputation.
Your wife's case was dismissed by the Family Court because she had to withdraw her petition after you proved in court that your consent was obtained under duress. Dragging an innocent person into malicious proceedings is a civil wrong, and the victim has the right to claim damages. Therefore, you can serve a legal notice to your wife and her parents and file a civil suit seeking compensation for the harm caused to you.
Departmental inquiry without giving opportunity of hearing. In the departmental inquiry the disciplinary inquiry officer did not provide me an opportunity to defend. No opportunity was given to ask cross-examination or adduce witness. Please help.
In disciplinary proceedings, it is necessary to fix a date for the evidence of the charged employee. However, if the charged employee does not wish to lead any evidence, this fact must be recorded in the disciplinary proceedings. It appears that this procedure was not followed in your case, or at least, no order or noting to this effect has been pointed out to you. As a result, there may have been a violation of the principles of natural justice.
You should file a writ petition in the high court for quashing of the departmental inquiry. Breach of natural justice strikes at the root of the case. Entire proceeding had been conducted without affording you an opportunity of hearing. This fact itself proves that the inquiry committee has committed grave error. Therefore, the high court may quash the entire proceedings.
Can an employer who is currently suspended request an attested copy of relevant documents from their own office? Whether he should submit a simple application to the office, with the intention of attaching the documents to their court case or there is any other matter.
If an employer is currently suspended, it is possible that they may not have access to certain documents or information from their own office. However, it may be possible for the employer to request an attested copy of relevant documents from their own office by submitting a written application. The application should clearly state the specific documents being requested and the reason why they are needed.
If the office is refused to provide those documents, you can approach the trial court to call those documents from the appropriate authority of your office. The court is empowered to demand any document which is necessary for the trial or which is required by the accused to prove his innocence.
The vice chancellor of central university has dismissed me from service: What to do? I am a professor working at a central university located in XXX, Uttar Pradesh. During my tenure as a dean, a dispute arose between some students and the dean. In light of this, I took the decision to prohibit the entry of certain students who were involved in criminal activities within the university. However, these students had indirect support from the vice chancellor and therefore they resisted my decision and mobilized other students against me.
I requested the vice chancellor to conduct an independent investigation into the matter, and a special committee was formed for this purpose. However, despite the committee's report, I was suspended from my position as a dean and later dismissed from my service. The vice chancellor did not disclose the report of the special investigation committee. I believe that I have been unjustly treated and seek justice in this matter. Could you please help me?
The appointing authority or their delegatee is authorized to exercise discretion in placing a government servant under suspension in certain circumstances. This power has been granted to enable disciplinary proceedings to take place when the allegations are of such a serious nature that, if proven, they would typically warrant a major penalty.
It appears that your suspension order should have been ordered by the appointing authority and not the Vice Chancellor, as they are not your appointing authority. Therefore, the suspension order may be considered unjust, illegal, and void. Additionally, under the provisions of U.P. State Universities (Centralised) Service Rules, 1975, the Vice Chancellor does not have the power to dismiss, terminate, or reduce the rank of a government servant.
The U.P. Government Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1999 outline punishments for both major and minor offenses. However, the U.P. State Universities (Centralised) Service Rule 1975 does not provide any specific provisions for punishments. Therefore, if disciplinary proceedings do result in a penalty, the provisions of the U.P. Government Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1999 would apply.
The Vice Chancellor or the State Government, as the case may be, can initiate disciplinary proceedings. However, in the case of major punishments, the final order of inflicting punishment must be passed by the State Government. It appears that in your case, the Vice Chancellor has inflicted a major punishment, which is beyond their power and therefore, ultra vires.
You should file a writ petition in the high court under article 226 of the constitution for quashing or setting aside of suspension and termination order.
Discharge application has rejected in prevention of corruption act. I was caught accepting a bribe through a trap set up under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. An FIR was registered against me under sections 7/13(2) and section 13(1)(d) at Police Station XXX. The trap was laid by Inspector R.P. Gupta. He submits a charge-sheet. Later, the I faced charges under the same sections, but my application for discharge was dismissed by the Trial Court on August 18, 2022. What to do?
If you have evidence and grounds to prove your innocence, it may be advisable to file a petition in the High Court under section 482 of the code of criminal procedure. This could allow you to seek the quashing of the charge sheet. The court would need to consider your evidence and arguments before framing charges. In cases where your discharge application has been rejected by the trial court, you may have the right to invoke section 482 crpc and request the quashing of the charge sheet.
Quashing of a charge sheet refers to the process of stopping further legal proceedings against an accused person. Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) provides inherent powers to High Courts to make orders as may be necessary to prevent the abuse of the process of any court or to secure the ends of justice.
In the context of a charge sheet, the accused can file a petition in the High Court under Section 482 CrPC to seek the quashing of the charge sheet. The court can consider factors such as the legality of the charge sheet, the availability of evidence to support the charges, and whether there has been any abuse of the legal process.
If the court is convinced that the charge sheet is legally untenable or if there is no sufficient evidence to proceed with the case, it may quash the charge sheet. However, it is important to note that the court will not quash the charge sheet merely on the grounds of technicalities or minor discrepancies.
In summary, Section 482 of CrPC empowers the High Court to quash a charge sheet if it finds that the continuation of legal proceedings against the accused would amount to an abuse of the legal process or if the charges are not legally tenable.
