Delhi High Court rejects plea of former Chairperson of Delhi Minorities Commission for higher pay

The Delhi High Court recently dismissed a petition by the former chairperson of the Delhi Minorities Commission Zafarul Islam Khan, seeking a grant of benefits proposed under a 2018 cabinet decision, enhancing the salary to the post to Rs. 2 lakh per month.

While dismissing the petition, Justice V Kameswar Rao stated that it lacked merit and noted that a 2021 Delhi government notification stated that the amended salary would take effect on the date of the notification and would have a 'prospective effect'.

Court observed that Rule 3 and 4 of the DMC Rules, 2000, provided a consolidated salary of Rs. 18,000 per month to the chairperson, and the petitioner has not challenged the legality of the notification dated June 9, 2021, since the said notification vide Rule 1(2), clearly states that the amendment to Rule 3 of the Rules of 2000 shall take effect on the date of notification in the Delhi Gazette.

“I do not see any merit in the petition and the same is dismissed”, the Court ordered.

Khan claimed in his petition that he was denied the benefit of the notification regarding salary increases on a consolidated basis, which he stated was 'illegal' and 'arbitrary'.

Khan requested that the Delhi government should implement its cabinet decision dated July 17, 2018, beginning on the same date, and grant him all consequential benefits, including HRA and leave encashment.

He also claimed that the Cabinet resolution violated legal rights by denying equal treatment and discriminatory implementation in the current case.

The Delhi government, on the other hand, claimed that the notification issued by the Department of Revenue on June 9, 2021, was prospective rather than retrospective and that the cabinet decision nowhere directed or decided that the revised salary and other perks would be effective from the date of the said decision rather than the notification.

[Source: TOI]