|
Apex
court adds rider to 'equal pay for equal work' rule
Monday November 01, 2010 05:47:57 PM,
IANS
|
|
New Delhi:
The Supreme Court has said that the principle of "equal pay for
equal work" would not come into play unless it was established
that the work was being performed under the orders of the
competent authority.
The plea of equal pay for equal work is founded on Article 14 of
constitution, hence it was incumbent upon workmen to establish
that they were performing the work, for which they were seeking
equal pay, under orders of a competent authority, said the apex
court Friday.
The ruling was given by the bench of Justice Harjit Singh Bedi and
Justice Chandramauli Kumar Prasad in their judgment.
Speaking for the bench, Justice Prasad said that for applying the
principle of equal pay for equal work, mere volume of work shall
not be relevant as there was a qualitative difference as regards
the liability and responsibility.
The apex court said this while partly allowing an appeal of the
Rajasthan State Electricity Board (RSEB) - now called the Ajmer
Vidyut Vitran Nigam - on the question of giving eight of its 35
employees the pay of junior clerk.
These employes had joined the board Nov 28, 1979, as helpers in
the consolidated pay scale of Rs.150 per month. They were
initially appointed for three months but their employment was
continued thereafter.
After a limited competitive examination in August 1984, eight of
these employees, including Naveen Kumar Sinai and Shyam Lal, were
appointed as junior clerks.
Between Sep 17, 1987, and Oct 13, 1987, the services of 27 other
people who too had joined as helpers were regularized as junior
clerks with effect from April 1, 1982. Thus, they became senior to
the eight employees appointed earlier.
Aggrieved by this situation, the eight employees, who had
succeeded by way of limited competitive examination, moved the
Rajasthan High Court. They were directed to approach the
industrial tribunal, which later ruled in their favour.
The RSEB moved the apex court challenging the impugned order of
the high court.
The apex court judges said: "We are of the opinion that workmen
(eight of them) were not entitled for the scale of pay of the
junior clerk even on notional basis from the date of their
engagement as helper."
The judgment directed the board to consider the cases of the eight
employees for regularization as junior clerks with effect from
April 1, 1982, and if found fit for regularisation to grant them
the pay-scale from that date.
As the eight were found fit for appointment as junior clerks on
the basis of the limited written examination, there did not seem
any valid reason to suggest that they shall not be fit to be
regularised as junior clerks when people junior to them were
regularised and given the regular scale of pay with effect from
April 1, 1982, the apex court judgment said.
|
|
Home |
Top of the Page |
|
 |
|
Comment on this article |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 News Pick |
|
Five
Suggestions for the Islamic World
There is no doubt or debate that Islamic
world is lagging far behind today from others in several important
fields including education, science and technology and except a few
oil rich Arab nations, it is facing poverty
» |
70
disabled Gaza men look towards a new life
Life will perhaps be a lot better for them now. Seventy men, left
disabled when Israel launched a military offensive in Gaza in
December 2008, have tied the knot in a mass wedding organised by
the ruling Hamas. Sitting on his
» |
|
Defeated candidate chops off rival's hand in Uttar Pradesh
A candidate defeated in the
recently-concluded panchayat polls in
Uttar Pradesh chopped off a hand of his rival, who too had lost
the election, police said Sunday. Assailants not only cut off the
right hand of 50-year
» |
Not
many choices before Congress to replace Ashok Chavan
With Ashok Chavan likely to step down and the names of several
senior Maharashtra Congress leaders reportedly figuring in the
Adarsh housing
»
|
|
Mobile
number portability launch delayed, to start Nov 25
The mobile number portability (MNP) service, which will allow
subscribers to retain their numbers while switching operators,
will roll out from Nov 25 instead of Nov 1 in a phased manner from
Haryana, the department of
» |
Teenager stabbed in fight organised on Facebook
A 16-year-old student from an Auckland school was stabbed in a
public fight that was organised through the social networking
website Facebook. A group of students gathered at an
» |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Top
Stories |
|
 Obama
visit to India: Past as reminder for future
US President Barack Obama embarks on
his India 'yatra' in Mumbai Nov 6 to leave his impress on a
complex, contradictory and asymmetric bilateral relationship
between the world's
»
Obama
better than Bush, so no protests, say Indian Muslims
Obama
to visit Humayun's Tomb
'Obama's Asia trip underscores re-engagement strategy' |
|
|
|
Picture of the Day |
|
 |
|
President Mrs Pratibha Devisingh Patil,
Vice President Mohd. Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan
Singh, Lok Sabha Speaker Mrs. Meira Kumar, Chairperson National
Advisory Council Mrs. Sonia Gandhi and other dignitaries, at a
prayer meeting at the Samadhi of former Prime Minister, Late Mrs.
Indira Gandhi, on her 26th death anniversary, at Shakti Sthal, in
New Delhi on October 31, 2010.
(Photo: P S Kanwar) |
|
|
|
|
Most
Read |
|
Tension, protests in Telangana mar Andhra formation day
Tension, large scale protests, road blockades and attacks on the
houses of ministers and legislators in Telangana marred the 54th
Andhra Pradesh formation day celebrations Monday. Police arrested
hundreds of protestors in Hyderabad and other districts as they
» |
|
World's
first integrated aviation university in Bangalore
The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) and the
Bangalore-based Subramanya Construction and Development Company (SCDC)
Monday signed a joint venture agreement to set up the world's
first integrated aviation university and training campus in the
Karnataka capital
»
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Quick links