The High Court has directed the State Governments of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh in a judgment to pay the Employees of the Employees (Before 2006) under the sixth pay (6th Pay Scale) Commission Scheme (Before 2006).
Justice Rakesh Mohan Pandey has given this decision in the case of Chhattisgarh Government College Pensioners Association vs. Chhattisgarh State. The petitioner Chhattisgarh Government College Pensioners Association is a registered institution representing the pensioners of government colleges.
The institution had filed a petition by the High Court challenging the discriminatory behavior being done before those who retired before 1 January 2006. The petition stated that the people who retired after 2006 were given the benefit of the Sixth Pay Commission, while their counterparts were deprived of this, which is similar to discrimination.
Earlier, the Society filed WP (s) No. 5333/2012, which was settled on January 25, 2018, in which the authorities were instructed to present a representation. However, the Finance Department of the Government of Chhattisgarh rejected his representation through an order of 28 February 2018, due to which he had to file the current petition.
The petitioners argued that such a classification is a violation of Article 14 of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law. The state of Chhattisgarh argued that giving benefits to retired people before 2006 would put an inappropriate financial burden on the state treasury.
Justice Rakesh Mohan Pandey rejected the state’s argument citing the Supreme Court’s decision. The court said that according to Section 49 of the Madhya Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2000, both Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh will have to share the liability of pension payment. The state has been directed to release the revised pension within 120.
