Doctors Deserve Respect, Rightful Pay! HC Slams State for Arbitrary Action
Punjab and Haryana High Court
Chandigarh: Upholding a single judge bench's order of granting assistant professors their due pay scales in accordance with the Punjab Medical Education (Group-A) Service Rules of 2016, the Punjab and Haryana High Court recently held that doctors deserve respect and their rightful pay under the law.
Before dismissing an appeal filed by Assistant Professors, the HC Division bench of Justices Anupinder Singh Grewal and Lapita Banerji also slammed the State Government for its capricious and irrational action, The Tribune has reported.
"It is apt to notice that the arbitrary and unreasonable action of the state has compelled the doctors to knock the portals of this court. The doctors ought to be treated with respect and dignity and given their lawful dues under the rules," observed the bench.
The bench observed that any deviation from the statutory pay scales required amendment in the rules, which the State failed to undertake. Citing precedents, the Court reiterated that the statutory provisions must prevail over statements in advertisements in cases of conflict.
As per the latest media report by The Tribune, the litigation arose as the doctors, who were appointed under the 2016 Rules, were denied the prescribed pay scales of Rs 37,400 to 67,000 with grade pay of Rs 8,600. When the issued executive instructions to apply lower central pay scales, the doctors challenged the decision before the Single Judge bench.
Earlier, the single-judge bench had termed the State's action arbitrary, directing compliance with the 2016 Rules. This order was upheld by the Division bench of the High Court, which dismissed the State's appeal for lacking merit.
The Division bench affirmed that the doctors, who were appointed as assistant professor, were entitled to the pay scales specified in the 2016 Rules. It also rejected the State's argument that the advertisement and appointment letters, which offered lower pay scale, were binding on the doctors. The bench noted that the executive instructions could not override statutory provisions.
"Merely because in the advertisement/appointment letters, the state had prescribed a lower pay scale, the same cannot come in the way of the respondents seeking the enforcement of their lawful rights. It is trite that the executive instructions cannot override statutory rules," observed the HC bench.
It was observed by the Court that proper course required to be adopted was the amendment of the rules, in case the State's intention was to provide "another or lower pay scales".
"There is no dispute that the rules have not been amended. Executive instructions would have the force of law only in the absence of statutory rules or to fill the gaps in the statutory rules, which is not there in the case at hand," it observed.
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