NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday rapped the Bihar and Jharkhand governments for abandoning constitutional responsibility and denying salary for a decade to employees of public sector undertakings which forced them to a state of despair.
The court came down heavily on the governments headed by Nitish Kumar and Hemant Soren for litigating incessantly and passing the buck about their responsibility to pay salaries to employees of PSUs Bihar Hill Area Lift Irrigation Corporation (Bhalco) and Jhalco - who were caught in the bifurcation of Bihar -- and taking a heartless stand that aggrieved employees could initiate winding up proceedings to recover their salaries.
A bench of Justices Anil R Dave and Dipak Misra said, "We can only say that the stand and stance so adroitly put forth by both the states are shorn of their constitutional accountability and statutory answerability."
Accusing the states of keeping "helpless and hapless people in a state of despair", the bench accepted the arguments of advocate Priya Hingorani to say, "It is the duty of the constitutional court (to ensure) that all should be paid their dues. It is not a case where we shall confine the relief to the respondents alone. Earlier, this court had constituted a committee and the state of Bihar had deposited Rs 50 crore for all the corporations and the employees working in Bhalco who were not paid salary from 1995 were proportionately paid."
Looking at the predicament of the employees who were reduced to penury because of non-payment of salaries and the insistence of the states that relief be limited to only those who have approached the court, Justice Misra said it would be applicable to all those who have been denied their wages, whether they have moved the court or not.
Writing the judgment for the bench, Justice Misra said, "A man in dire need cannot fight litigation against two experimenting states to get his dues. True, under the law there has been bifurcation and the central government has been assigned the role to settle the controversies that had to arise between the two states. But the experimentation that has been done with the employees, as if they were guinea pigs, is legally not permissible and absolutely unconscionable. It hurts the soul of the Constitution and no one has the right to do so."
It directed, "The employees who were paid certain amount after this court had directed deposit of Rs 50 crore by the state of Bihar and have not been absorbed by Jhalco, they should be paid their salary from January 1, 1995 till December 29, 2001. The state of Jharkhand shall pay from December 29 till September 13, 2004."
It gave Bihar three months to pay up, while granting four months to comply with the direction and pay the dues with 7.5% interest.
The court came down heavily on the governments headed by Nitish Kumar and Hemant Soren for litigating incessantly and passing the buck about their responsibility to pay salaries to employees of PSUs Bihar Hill Area Lift Irrigation Corporation (Bhalco) and Jhalco - who were caught in the bifurcation of Bihar -- and taking a heartless stand that aggrieved employees could initiate winding up proceedings to recover their salaries.
A bench of Justices Anil R Dave and Dipak Misra said, "We can only say that the stand and stance so adroitly put forth by both the states are shorn of their constitutional accountability and statutory answerability."
Accusing the states of keeping "helpless and hapless people in a state of despair", the bench accepted the arguments of advocate Priya Hingorani to say, "It is the duty of the constitutional court (to ensure) that all should be paid their dues. It is not a case where we shall confine the relief to the respondents alone. Earlier, this court had constituted a committee and the state of Bihar had deposited Rs 50 crore for all the corporations and the employees working in Bhalco who were not paid salary from 1995 were proportionately paid."
Looking at the predicament of the employees who were reduced to penury because of non-payment of salaries and the insistence of the states that relief be limited to only those who have approached the court, Justice Misra said it would be applicable to all those who have been denied their wages, whether they have moved the court or not.
Writing the judgment for the bench, Justice Misra said, "A man in dire need cannot fight litigation against two experimenting states to get his dues. True, under the law there has been bifurcation and the central government has been assigned the role to settle the controversies that had to arise between the two states. But the experimentation that has been done with the employees, as if they were guinea pigs, is legally not permissible and absolutely unconscionable. It hurts the soul of the Constitution and no one has the right to do so."
It directed, "The employees who were paid certain amount after this court had directed deposit of Rs 50 crore by the state of Bihar and have not been absorbed by Jhalco, they should be paid their salary from January 1, 1995 till December 29, 2001. The state of Jharkhand shall pay from December 29 till September 13, 2004."
It gave Bihar three months to pay up, while granting four months to comply with the direction and pay the dues with 7.5% interest.
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