Patna High Court Orders Full Back Wages To Employee Illegally Terminated As He Was 'Prevented From Working', Refuses To Apply 'No Work No Pay’ Principle

The Patna High Court, putting an end to a 30 year old legal tussle has ordered full back wages to be paid to a government employee who was terminated illegally.

The Court was considering a Writ Petition seeking direction to Government to pay the arrears of salary and allowances with interest further to the Petitioner from the date of his joining to termination.

The Bench of Justice Partha Sarthy held, "In the opinion of the Court, the case of the petitioner having been allowed and the orders of punishment having been set aside on account of violation of the law settled by the Apex Court in the case of Punjab National Bank & Ors. vs. Kunj Bihari Mishra; (1998) 7 SCC 84 as also Yoginath Bagde vs. State of Maharashtra & Anr.; (1999) 7 SCC 739, so far as the payment of back-wages for the period that the petitioner was prevented from working, in the opinion of the Court, the case of the petitioner is fully covered by the judgment in the case of Deepali Gundu Surwase (supra) quoted herein above and the same is fit to be allowed."

The Petitioner was represented by Advocate Binod Bihari Sinha, while the Respondent was represented by Standing Counsel Sunil Kr. Mandal.

Facts of the Case

The case of the Petitioner was that he was deputed as an Arm Guard in village Paharpur in the District of Aurangabad. On account of his being unauthorizedly absent, an enquiry was started against him in 1993 wherein the Enquiry Officer submitted his report in 1995 finding the Petitioner to be guilty of unauthorised absence, however not finding him to be guilty of having illicit relations.

The Commandant, Bihar Military Police, disagreed with the finding of the Enquiry Officer and, giving his reasons, issued a show cause notice to the Petitioner as to why he should not be discharged from service and later issued order of punishment of discharge of the Petitioner from service. 

The Petitioner took legal course and was subsequently reinstated in service, however was not given any financial benefits from the date of order of dismissal till the date of his rejoining in 2011.

Counsel for the Petitioner submitted that the order of punishment having been set aside by the Court, he was entitled for the arrears of salary for the period that he was kept out of service. Reliance was placed on the Supreme Court's decision in Deepali Gundu Surwase vs. Kranti Junior Adhyapak Mahavidyalaya (2013).

The employer contended that the termination was set aside only on a technical ground and thus on the principles of ‘no work no pay’, the petitioner was not entitled to any salary for the said period.

Reasoning By Court

The Court agreed with the submissions of the Counsel for the Petitioner and granted the required relief.

"The writ application is allowed and the petitioner is held entitled for full back-wages for the period from 26.4.1995 till 2.4.2011. The arrears of salary for the said period shall be paid by the respondents to the petitioner within a period of 3 months from the date of receipt of a copy of this order", the Court ordered.

The Petition was accordingly disposed of.

Cause Title: Anil Kumar Singh v. The State of Bihar

Appearances:

Petitioner- Advocates Binod Bihari Sinha, Ajay Dutt Mishra and Amarjeet Choudhary

Respondent- Standing Counsel Sunil Kr. Mandal, Assistant Counsel to Standing Counsel Bipin Kumar

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