Ajeet Kumar and Ors. v. Guru Harkrishan Public School Kalkaiji Branch and Ors.

1. Present writ petitions have been filed seeking the following reliefs:- W.P.(C) 2827/2022 “i. issue of writ, order or directions in the nature of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or directions directing the Respondents no. 1 to 2 to fix the pay scale of the Petitioners as per the guidelines of 6th Pay Commission and release the arrears of 6th pay commission alongwith the Transport allowance (T.A.) for the period September 2008 to December 2015 and arrears of Transport Allowance and Dearness Allowance (D.A) as applicable along with interest@ 15% p.a., ii. issue of writ, order or directions in the nature of mandamus or Respondents no. 1 to 2 to implement 7th Pay Commission and after the fixation of pay scale in accordance with the 7th Pay Commission release the arrears of 7th pay commission along with interest@ 10% p.a.; iii. issue of writ, order or directions in the nature of mandamus or Respondents no. 1 to 2 to release the arrears of salary ie. 40% of the salary which have not been released till date for the period April 2020 to February 2021 along-with pay-slips and release transport allowance (T.A.) for the period June 2020 till the filing of the present petition and arrears of applicable Dearness Allowance; iv. Pass an order directing the Respondents no. 1 to 2 to pay/release the salaries in full (inclusive of T.A. and D.A.) to the petitioners on or before 7th day of every calendar month.” W.P.(C) 2846/2022 “i. issue of writ, order or directions in the nature of mandamus or Respondents no. 1 to 2 to fix the pay scale of the Petitioners as per the guidelines of 6th Pay Commission and release the arrears of 6th pay commission alongwith the Transport allowance (T.A.) for the period September 2008 to December 2015 and arrears of Transport Allowance and Dearness Allowance (D.A) as applicable along with interest@ 15% p.a., ii. issue of writ, order or directions in the nature of mandamus or Respondents no. 1 to 2 to implement 7th Pay Commission and after the fixation of pay scale in accordance with the 7th Pay Commission release the arrears of 7th pay commission along with interest@ 10% p.a.; iii. issue of writ, order or directions in the nature of mandamus or Respondents no. 1 to 2 to release the arrears of salary ie. 40% of the salary which have not been released till date for the period April 2020 to February 2021 along-with pay-slips and release transport allowance (T.A.) for the period April 2020 till the filing of the present petition and arrears of applicable Dearness Allowance; iv. Pass an order directing the Respondents no. 1 to 2 to pay/ release the salaries in full (inclusive of T.A. and D.A.) to the petitioners on or before 7th day of every calendar month.”

2. Petitioners are serving employees of Guru Harkrishan Public School/Respondent No. 1 herein (hereinafter referred to as the ‘School’) and the grievances ventilated in the present writ petitions pertain to non-payment of arrears of salaries and emoluments on account of pay revisions under 6th and 7th CPC along with Transport Allowance and Dearness Allowance as well as release of the arrears of 40% of balance salary for the period April, 2020 to February, 2021. It is the case of the Petitioners that it is the statutory obligation of the School to implement the recommendations of 6th and 7th CPC in entirety and despite the directions of this Court in several writ petitions as well as circulars issued from time to time by Directorate of Education (‘DoE’) in this behalf, the School has failed to act.

3. Learned counsel for the Petitioners urges that the case of the Petitioners is squarely covered by the judgment of this Court in Shikha Sharma v. Guru Harkrishan Public School & Ors, 2021 SCC OnLine Del 5011 and directions be issued to the School to release the pending arrears of pay revisions under 6th and 7th CPC along with TA, DA as well as 40% of the balance salaries.

4. Mr. Mishra, learned counsel representing the School is unable to dispute that the case of the Petitioners is covered on all four corners by the judgment of this Court in Shikha Sharma (supra) and/or it is the obligation of the School to revise the pay of the Petitioners in consonance with the recommendations of the Pay Commissions. Counsels for DoE support the case of the Petitioners and submit that DoE has issued several circulars from time to time directing the Schools to follow the mandate of law and abide by the recommendations of the 6th and 7th CPC and the claims of the Petitioners are justified and covered by the judgment in Shikha Sharma (supra).

5. Having heard the learned counsels for the parties, this Court finds merit in the contention of the Petitioners that the reliefs sought in the present writ petitions are covered by the judgment in Shikha Sharma (supra), relevant passages from which are as follows:

6. It is pertinent and relevant to mention at this stage that in both the writ petitions School has filed due and drawn statements as well as tabular presentation to show that arrears of 6th CPC i.e. for the period 01.01.2006 to 31.12.2015 have already been released to the Petitioners and there is nothing outstanding, save and except, TA/DA which shall be disbursed after calculations are made by DoE as per the directions of the Court in Shikha Sharma (supra). This fact is not disputed by the Petitioners.

7. Accordingly, the writ petitions are allowed, directing the School to refix the salaries and other emoluments of the Petitioners under 7th CPC and release the arrears thereof including balance of the 40% salaries, wherever and for the period for which they are due. Albeit arrears of 6th CPC have been released to the Petitioners, however, Petitioners are also entitled to interest @ 6% p.a. on delayed payments and the School is directed to make calculation of the interest amounts and release the due payments. The arrears of 7th CPC shall not carry any interest. The entire exercise of re-fixation of pay as per 7th CPC and payment of arrears/release of balance salaries shall be completed within a period of four months from today. On failure to pay the amounts within four months as directed above, Petitioners shall be entitled to interest at the rate of 9% p.a. on arrears of 7th CPC.

8. On the issue of TA and DA, the Court in Shikha Sharma (supra) passed the following directions:

9. The School is directed to take a decision with respect to TA/DA in accordance with the aforesaid directions, within 8 weeks from today and necessary action will be taken to release the payments in consonance with the decision taken within six weeks thereafter.