Shimla, Aug 5,
Giving relief to a retired government employee, the Himachal Pradesh High Court recently quashed a pay reduction order passed after a delay of nearly six years, terming it unjust and impermissible under the law.
Allowing the plea of Vijay Kumar Chibber, a former Draughtsman in the state Public Works Department, Justice Sandeep Sharma held that retrospective reduction in pay and recovery of excess salary after an inordinate delay was punitive and in violation of principles laid down by the Supreme Court.
Chibber had moved the court after his last drawn pay was reduced from Rs 78,800 to Rs 76,500 per month through a departmental order dated August 16, 2022, affecting his pension and arrears. The reduction stemmed from an alleged error in pay fixation made back in 2013 under the Assured Career Progression (ACP) scheme.
The court noted that the petitioner had not committed any fraud or misrepresentation and the benefit had been extended due to an administrative lapse. Earlier, the High Court had also directed the department to refund Rs 87,879 recovered from Chibber’s retirement benefits under similar circumstances.
Referring to landmark rulings by the Supreme Court—including Syed Abdul Qadir v. State of Bihar and Jagdish Prasad Singh v. State of Bihar—Justice Sharma observed that belated recoveries cause undue hardship to retired employees and are legally untenable.
“The impugned order reducing the petitioner’s pay scale after a six-year delay is quashed. The department is directed to refix the pay and disburse arrears preferably within four months,†the judgment concluded copy of which release to media today.
The verdict, approved for reporting, is likely to have far-reaching implications for other retired employees facing similar actions by the state government.
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