Court Holds State Cannot Deny Pay Revision After Extending 6th Pay Commission Benefits Under Approved Service Bye-Laws
The Punjab & Haryana High Court has directed the State of Haryana to extend the benefits of the 7th Pay Commission to employees working under the National Health Mission (NHM), holding that the continued denial of revised pay scales despite approved Service Bye-laws, Finance Department concurrence and executive approval was arbitrary and discriminatory.
Justice Sandeep Moudgil passed the order while allowing a batch of writ petitions led by Priyawart & Others v. State of Haryana & Others, filed by contractual NHM employees serving on various posts including Staff Nurse, Pharmacist, ANM, Lab Technician, Computer Assistant and Medical Social Worker.
Background
The petitioners approached the High Court seeking revision of their pay scales in accordance with the 7th Pay Commission and release of consequential arrears. They contended that the State had already extended benefits of the 6th Pay Commission to NHM employees through the Service Bye-laws, 2018, which were framed with Finance Department approval and patterned on the Haryana School Shiksha Pariyojana Parishad (HSSPP) framework.
According to the petitioners, while HSSPP employees were subsequently granted benefits of the 7th Pay Commission, NHM employees were denied similar treatment despite operating under a comparable service structure.
State's Defence
The State argued that NHM employees were contractual and scheme-based workers whose service conditions were governed by contracts and mission guidelines. It was further contended that parity with HSSPP employees could not be claimed as both organisations functioned under different administrative and financial frameworks.
The State also maintained that matters relating to pay fixation and implementation of Pay Commission recommendations fall within the policy domain of the executive and are not ordinarily amenable to judicial review.
Court Finds State's Stand Unsustainable
Rejecting the State's objections, the Court observed that the dispute was not one concerning regularisation but enforcement of rights arising from the approved NHM Service Bye-laws. The Court noted that the Finance Department had approved extension of the 6th Pay Commission benefits and that the State itself had consciously adopted the HSSPP model while framing the NHM pay structure.
The Court held that once parity had been consciously adopted and implemented by the State, it could not subsequently abandon the same without disclosing any rational basis.
"Having adopted such parity while conferring benefits, the State cannot subsequently abandon the same without disclosing any reason having a rational nexus with the object sought to be achieved."
Reliance On 'Equal Pay For Equal Work' Principle
Justice Moudgil referred to the Supreme Court's judgment in State of Punjab v. Jagjit Singh and reiterated that even contractual employees are entitled to protection against arbitrary discrimination where they perform comparable functions and are governed by an established service framework.
The Court observed that NHM employees form the backbone of Haryana's public healthcare system and have rendered critical services across hospitals, health centres, vaccination programmes and public health schemes, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chief Minister's Approval Noted By Court
A significant aspect noted by the Court was that the State Health Society had itself recommended implementation of the 7th Pay Commission for NHM employees and the proposal had received approval from the Chief Minister. The Court observed that no material had been produced to show that such approval was ever withdrawn or superseded.
The Court held that administrative delays or departmental indecision could not be used to defeat a benefit that stood acknowledged at the highest executive level.
High Court's Directions
Allowing the petitions, the High Court held that denial of the 7th Pay Commission benefits despite approved Service Bye-laws, Finance Department concurrence, executive approval and parity with similarly situated employees was legally unsustainable.
Accordingly, the Court directed Haryana to:
- Revise the pay scales of NHM employees in accordance with the 7th Pay Commission;
- Grant the benefit from 01 January 2016, the date from which similarly situated employees under the corresponding framework were extended the revised pay scales;
- Release consequential arrears;
- Pay interest at 6% per annum on the arrears; and
- Complete the entire exercise within 12 weeks.
The Court, however, clarified that arrears would remain restricted to a period of 38 months preceding the filing of the respective writ petitions.