The Patna High Court has issued a significant ruling concerning delayed salary dues, ordering the Bihar government to pay Rs 6.71 lakh in pending salary arrears to the family of a deceased government employee. The case involved dues that remained unpaid for more than 20 years, highlighting a prolonged administrative delay.
Background of the Case
Ramdeo Prasad, who served as a dresser cum compounder at Government Polytechnic College in Gaya, died while in service on April 24, 2003. However, his salary dues from July 1992 until April 22, 2003, were never fully disbursed by the authorities. Following his death, his family persistently pursued the matter for years. His wife, a homemaker, also passed away in 2016 without receiving the pending amount. Eventually, their son, Uday Kumar, approached the court seeking the payment, as reported by the Economic Times.
Court's Ruling
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Sangam Kumar Sahoo and Justice Harish Kumar ruled in favor of Uday Kumar, directing the Bihar government to clear the unpaid salary arrears of Rs 6.71 lakh. The court acknowledged that the dues had remained unpaid for an extraordinarily long period and held that the family could not be denied rightful payments due to administrative delays. Uday Kumar had also sought interest on the delayed amount along with litigation costs. On this point, the government appealed to the larger bench, arguing that since the payment had been missed earlier, it should not be required to pay interest spanning more than 20 years.
Interest Component
The court restricted the interest component, holding that in cases involving delayed claims, interest on arrears should ordinarily be limited to the three years prior to the filing of the writ petition, rather than covering the entire period of delay. The bench further directed that interest at 6 percent per annum would be payable from September 3, 2019, to September 3, 2022.
Legal Precedents
The Division Bench relied on Supreme Court judgments in Union of India v. Tarsem Singh (2008) and Rushibhai Jagdishchandra Pathak v. Bhavnagar Municipal Corporation (2022). The court observed that as a consequence, high courts should restrict the consequential relief relating to arrears to the three years preceding the date of filing of the writ petition, according to the Economic Times.
This ruling underscores the importance of timely payment of salaries and provides relief to the family after decades of waiting.
