HC orders back wages for Alwar court staffer after illegal compulsory retirement

Jaipur: The Rajasthan High Court has directed the state govt to pay salary and allowances to a former Senior Reader of the District Court, Alwar, for the period he was kept out of service after a compulsory retirement order that was later quashed.A single-judge bench of Justice Praveer Bhatnagar passed the order on Feb 9 while allowing a writ petition filed by K C Jain, who was serving as Senior Reader when he was compulsorily retired on June 14, 2006.
Jain challenged the retirement before the departmental appellate authority. During the pendency of his appeal, he attained superannuation on July 31, 2010. On Aug 18, 2014, the appellate authority set aside the compulsory retirement order, holding there was no sufficient material to justify such action. However, while granting relief on retirement, the authority denied him salary and allowances for the intervening period from June 14, 2006 to July 31, 2010, invoking the principle of "no work, no pay". Aggrieved, Jain moved the high court. His counsel, Sunil Samdaria, argued that once the retirement order was annulled, the petitioner was entitled to all consequential benefits. He submitted that Supreme Court rulings make it clear that "no work, no pay" cannot apply where an employee was prevented from working due to an illegal order. The high court noted that the appellate authority itself found no adverse material in Jain's service record in the five years preceding his compulsory retirement. Holding that he was wrongfully kept out of service, the court ruled that the denial of salary and allowances was unsustainable. It directed the respondents to pay salary and allowances for the said period within three months.