Summary
Home Guards in Odisha sought duty call-up allowance at the rate directed in Grah Rakshak, a daily rate whose monthly total equals the minimum pay of police constables, which the State's Director General had in November 2016 recommended as Rs. 533 per day. A Single Judge of the Orissa High Court so directed from that date; the Division Bench affirmed but only from January 2020, and both sides appealed. The Supreme Court upheld the rate, rejecting the State's plea that contractual entry-level constables draw only a consolidated Rs. 9,000, since the benchmark is the minimum pay on regular appointment; it found no basis for the Division Bench's cut-off but, given the financial burden, fixed arrears from the filing of the writ petition on 1 June 2018, with periodic revision.
Issues
- Whether Home Guards in Odisha are entitled to duty call-up allowance of Rs. 533 per day computed with reference to the minimum pay of regular police constables, as recommended by the Director General in compliance with Grah Rakshak, notwithstanding that constables appointed on contract under the Odisha Group-C and Group-D (Contractual Appointment) Rules, 2013 draw a lower consolidated remuneration, and from what date.
Provisions considered
- Scheme of contractual appointment of constables, Odisha Group-C and Group-D (Contractual Appointment) Rules, 2013Constables are initially appointed on contract at a consolidated Rs. 9,000 per month and made permanent after some years, when they are placed in the minimum of the pay scale; Home Guards with long service cannot be equated with entry-level contractual constables and are entitled to allowance reckoned on the minimum pay of regular police personnel. (¶¶ 3.1, 6.2, 6.3)
- Article 141 (binding effect of Grah Rakshak and the clarificatory order of 04.05.2016), Constitution of IndiaGrah Rakshak directed every State to pay Home Guards duty allowance such that thirty days' total equals the minimum pay of its police personnel, clarified to mean basic pay, grade pay, dearness allowance and washing allowance computed per day of work; the Union Home Ministry repeatedly asked States to comply and several did, so Odisha's contrary stand cannot be accepted. (¶¶ 6, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3)
Held
- The State's contention that Home Guards should receive the same fixed sum as contractual entry-level constables is contrary to Grah Rakshak and its clarification; the Director General's recommendation of Rs. 533 per day from 10.11.2016 accorded with those directions, and the High Court rightly directed payment at that rate. (¶¶ 6.2, 6.3)
- No cogent reason supported the Division Bench's restriction of the benefit to January 2020 when the judgment dates from 2015, the clarification from May 2016 and the recommendation from November 2016; however, in view of the annual financial implication of about Rs. 189 crores for 17,765 Home Guards, arrears at Rs. 533 per day are confined to the period from the filing of the writ petition on 01.06.2018, with the allowance to be revised periodically in line with increases in constables' minimum pay. (¶¶ 7, 9)
Result
State's appeals dismissed with modification and Home Guards' appeals partly allowed; direction to pay duty call-up allowance of Rs. 533 per day confirmed, arrears payable from 01.06.2018 within three months, and the allowance to be periodically increased with reference to the minimum pay of the State's police personnel; no order as to costs.