Patna HC Quashes Pay Verification Certificate Reducing Pay & Designation Of Magadh University Employee
|The Patna High Court quashed the Pay Verification Certificate which reduced the pay and designation of a non-teaching employee of the Magadh University.
The employee (Petitioner) was appointed and confirmed as a Dresser and was subsequently promoted to the post of Dispenser. The Petitioner’s pay was fixed following the approval of the Statutory Pay Fixation Committee of the University. However, the Pay Verification Cell of the Department of Education unilaterally reduced the petitioner’s pay and altered his designation to Compounder.
A Single Bench of Justice Satyavrat Verma held, “The court is in complete agreement with the submissions made by the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner as such the order impugned…along with the pay verification certificate issued…under the signature of the authorized officer, Pay Verification Cell, Department of Education Government of Bihar, Patna (Annexure-p/14) are hereby quashed and the matter is remanded back to the State authorities for proceeding afresh in accordance with law.”
Advocate Anil Singh appeared for the Petitioner, while GP Kameshwar Pd. Gupta represented the Respondents.
The Petitioner argued that the Pay Verification Cell had acted in violation of the principles of natural justice by issuing the certificate without providing him any notice or seeking his explanation. He submitted that the unilateral reduction of his pay and designation contravened the order passed by the High Court another Petition, which had held that the Pay Verification Cell could not amend decisions made by the University without first notifying the concerned employee.
It was submitted that if by a decision some civil consequences follow in that event the aggrieved must be heard and in the present case there was a specific direction of the Court in earlier round of litigation that the pay verification cell could not take a decision unilaterally with regard to scaling down of the pay scale of an employee of the University.
“It is also submitted that in view of the facts recorded hereinabove, it becomes manifestly clear that petitioner was never noticed nor any explanation was sought from him prior to scaling down his scale as such an order passed in complete breach of the principles of natural justice cannot be sustained,” the Petitioner argued.
The High Court, being in complete agreement with the submissions made by the Petitioner, quashed the Order of the Pay Verification Cell.
Consequently, the Court remanded the matter to the State authorities for proceeding afresh in accordance with law.
Cause Title: Suray Deo Paswan v. The State of Bihar & Ors.
Appearance:
Petitioner: Advocates Anil Singh and Ritesh Kumar
Respondents: GP Kameshwar Pd. Gupta; AC Satya Vrat; Advocate Pankaj Kumar Singh