HP High Court Raps HPU for withholding Associate Professor's Salary
Justice Sandeep Sharma, while allowing a civil writ petition filed by Dr. Bhawani Singh, directed HPU to release the pending salary within six weeks. Dr. Singh, appointed as an Assistant Professor in 2016 in the Department of Hindi, was promoted to Associate Professor on September 9, 2022, under UGC norms. The promotion was approved by the university's Executive Council through an office order dated July 4, 2023.
However, HPU withheld the salary, citing lack of approval from the state government.
The court noted that Dr. Singh was working in the higher post but denied its pay scale. 'The petitioner, who admittedly at present is working against the higher post, is being denied salary of the higher post,' the order stated, terming the university's conduct as 'bad in law' and 'unjustified.'
HPU's repeated attempts to seek approval from the Finance Department were blocked, as the department claimed that the Assured Career Progression (ACP) Scheme ceased with the introduction of the Himachal Pradesh Civil Services (Revised Pay) Rules, 2022. However, the court rejected this reasoning, asserting that UGC regulations, having statutory force, must prevail over state policies in such matters.
Citing Supreme Court rulings in Gambhirdan K. Gadhvi v. State of Gujarat and Prof. (Dr.) Sreejith P.S v. Dr. Rajshree M.S, the court emphasized that UGC norms are binding on state universities. 'UGC Regulations should become part of the statute framed by Parliament and, therefore, shall prevail,' Justice Sharma said.
The court ruled that state government approval was not a precondition for releasing the salary. Failure to comply with the order within six weeks will entitle Dr. Singh to interest at 6% per annum on the delayed payment.
Senior Advocate Sanjeev Bhushan, assisted by L.S. Mehta, represented the petitioner, while Advocate General Anup Rattan and his team appeared for the state and HPU.
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