Denied Rs 165 Per Month Salary, Allahabad High Court Orders Payment Of Rs 1 Lakh To "Full Time" Peon After 14 Yrs

The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday awarded a salary plus cost of Rs. 1 Lakh to a peon working in school operated by District Basic Education Authorities, as she had been denied her full salary despite working full time as peon.

Petitioner had approached the High Court in 2010 seeking full salary as she was only paid Rs. 15 per month despite the salary being Rs. 165 per month. The respondent authority had appointed the petitioner as a “Full Time Peon”, however, subsequently the appointment was withdrawn as not being duly approved.

The Court observed that even though the aforesaid order revoking her appointment was never challenged by the petitioner, it was not in dispute that she continued to work as a full-time peon for a very long time. Therefore, the order appointing the petitioner as a “full-time peon” was in force.

“Petitioner was never paid salary of Rs.165/- per month and her fixed salary of Rs.15/- per month was stopped after 1996. The respondents have taken a hyper technical approach which is against the concept of a Welfare State,” observed Justice Saurabh Shyam Shamshery.

The Court calculated her income for 35 years of service to be Rs.69300/- at Rs. 165 per month. Since the petitioner had approached the Court twice for her salary dues, the Court, in the interest of justice, directed that Rs. 1 lakh be paid to her towards her salary and the cost of approaching the Court twice.

Case Title: Smt. Bhagonia Devi vs. Distt. Basic Edu. Officer Banda And Others 2024 LiveLaw (AB) 145 [WRIT - A No. - 2065 of 2010]

Case Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (AB) 145

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