Summary
Bhavnagar Municipal Corporation employees were given, under the Gujarat Higher Grade Scale Scheme, the pay-scale of the next promotional post; by order of 28.10.2010 the Corporation called this an error, revised them to the next scale in the hierarchy and recovered the excess. In 2016 the Gujarat High Court, in a colleague's prompt challenge, held the Scheme gave the promotional post's scale, and the Corporation accepted that, but the appellants sued only in September 2017. A Single Judge granted the higher scale with arrears from 2010; the Division Bench, citing delay, allowed it only from the Single Judge's judgment. The Supreme Court partly allowed the appeals: wrong pay fixation is a recurring wrong, so under Tarsem Singh arrears are limited to three years before the writ petitions, with 7% interest from 01.09.2017.
Issues
- Whether, where a claim to a higher pay-scale rests on a continuing or recurring wrong but the employees approached the court belatedly, relief should be confined to the date of the judgment (as the Division Bench held), extend back to the date of the wrongful order, or be restricted to arrears for three years before the writ petition.
- Whether a public employer which has accepted a judicial interpretation of a pay scheme in one employee's case must extend it to all similarly situated employees, and the consequence for interest on arrears.
Provisions considered
- Section 22 (continuing breaches and wrongs); principles of delay and laches in writ jurisdiction, Limitation Act, 1963Limitation does not apply to writ petitions but delay and laches are applied with caution; a wrong fixation of salary gives rise to a recurring cause of action every month (M.R. Gupta), so relief may be granted despite delay but arrears are normally confined to three years before the petition (Tarsem Singh; Shiv Dass), the relevant date being the filing of the petition, not the fortuitous date of the court's judgment. (¶¶ 9, 10, 11, 12, 14)
- Article 14 (equal treatment of similarly situated employees), Constitution of IndiaAs a model employer the Corporation, having accepted the High Court's interpretation of the Scheme in Mukeshbhai Joshi's case in 2016, should have extended the benefit to all similarly affected employees instead of forcing litigation (Arvind Kumar Srivastava), which justified interest on arrears from 01.09.2017; but fence-sitters who acquiesce cannot claim full arrears from 2010. (¶¶ 15, 16)
Held
- The doctrine of delay and laches, like limitation, rests on public interest: stale claims carry more cruelty than justice, evidence may be lost, and diligent pursuit is expected; equitable considerations such as changed positions and third-party rights also apply. Though limitation does not govern writ petitions, constitutional courts exercise discretion with caution, weighing the length of the delay and the acts done in the interval. (¶ 9)
- A wrong computation of salary contrary to the rules is a continuing wrong giving rise to a recurring cause of action each month; the employee is entitled to the properly fixed scale for the future and arrears so far as not time-barred (M.R. Gupta). Under Tarsem Singh, a belated pay claim not affecting third-party rights may be entertained despite delay, but consequential arrears are normally restricted to three years before the writ petition, and interest may be denied. (¶¶ 10, 11, 12, 13)
- The Division Bench erred in granting the higher scale only from the date of the Single Judge's judgment: that date is fortuitous and only the date of filing the writ petition is relevant to delay and laches. The appellants are entitled to arrears in the pre-revised scale of Rs. 5,000-8,000 for three years before filing, with interest at 7% per annum from 01.09.2017, the Corporation having accepted the 2016 interpretation of the Scheme and being obliged as a model employer to apply it uniformly; the claims for arrears from 2010 and for refund of all amounts recovered are rejected. (¶¶ 14, 15, 16, 17)
Result
Appeals partly allowed; the Gujarat High Court Division Bench judgment of 13.06.2019 in LPA No. 930 of 2019 partly set aside; the appellants held entitled to arrears in the pay-scale of Rs. 5,000-8,000 for three years prior to filing their writ petitions with 7% interest from 01.09.2017, payable within four months with a computation sheet; arrears from 2010 and refund of recovered amounts refused. No order as to costs.