An employee engaged for the same work, cannot be paid less than another, who performs the same duties and responsibilities: Gujarat High Court dismisses appeal
Vice Chancellor vs Amulaben Narendrabhai Nimavat on 17 April, 2023
Bench: Honourable Justice Hasmukh D. Suthar
R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 8816 of 2020
Facts
In this case, the original petitioner was appointed as a kitchen orker by the original respondent(the present appellant. However, her services were terminated. The original petitioner alleged that that her services were terminated without following the due procedure and thus raised an industrial dispute which was referred to the concerned Labour Court. The Labour Court passed an award whereby the Labour Court partly allowed the reference and directed the present appellant to reinstate the petitioner on her original post with continuity in service but without back wages.
Hence, the petitioner filed the a petition before the Court, wherein she requested the Court to issue a writ of mandamus for her regularization of direct the present respondents to pay all the benefits at par with the permanent employees of the Gujarat Ayurvedic University
The learned Single Judge partly allowed the said petition and even though he did not grant the relief prayed for by the petitioner for regularization, he directed the present appellant to pay a salary in the minimum of the pay scale as paid to the regularly appointed employees on the post of a Kitchen Worker. Being aggrieved and dissatisfied with the order passed by the learned Single Judge, the appellant has preferred the present appeal.
Judgement
The Court, after perusing the matter at hand held that the benefit of equal pay for equal work applies to all employees and there can be no discrimination whatsoever. The Court further held that it is fallacious to determine artificial parameters to deny fruits of labour as such an action besides being demeaning, strikes at the very foundation of human dignity. It came to a conclusion that the learned single judge had rightly applied the principle of ‘equal pay for equal work’, thereby issuing a direction to the present appellant to pay the the salary in the minimum of the pay scale as paid to the regularly appointed employees on the post of Kitchen Worker. Due to this reason, the appeal was dismissed.
JUDGEMENT REVIEWED BY AMIT ARAVIND
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