HC orders state to grant Shetty Commission benefits from 2003, pay arrears with interest to judicial stenos

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Bombay HC’s Aurangabad bench has directing state govt to implement the Justice Shetty Commission’s three-grade payscale recommendations with retrospective effect from April 1, 2003, for judicial stenographers.

The court also ordered that all arrears be paid within six months, along with 6% annual interest.A division bench comprising Justices Kishore Sant and Sushil Ghodeswar allowed a writ petition filed in 2015 by 37 stenographers working in district and subordinate courts. The bench held that govt’s attempt to limit financial benefits from Sept 15, 2018, was legally unsustainable.The petitioners had sought implementation of the Shetty Commission recommendations from April 1, 2003, in accordance with Supreme Court directions issued on Oct 7, 2009.

They argued that although the state acknowledged this retrospective date through a resolution passed on Oct 20, 2011, it introduced a four-grade structure instead of the recommended three-grade system. This discrepancy was later corrected through a GR on Sept 15, 2018.

The state, however, argued that monetary benefits should apply only from 2018.Advocate Pradnya S Talekar, representing the petitioners, contended that the state could not deny retrospective benefits by treating the 2018 GR as a new policy decision.

Chief govt pleader A B Girase appeared for the state, while advocate Mukul Kulkarni, representing the HC administration, supported the petitioners’ case for implementation from 2003.The bench also criticised the state for repeatedly delaying proceedings. Referring to earlier hearings, it noted that on Feb 29, 2024, it had already observed that govt was “killing time” by seeking repeated adjournments. The court observed that delays occured when employee benefits or salaries were involved.Rejecting the state’s arguments, the court clarified that the 2018 GR merely rectified flaws in the 2011 resolution and could not be treated as a separate policy decision. It termed the govt’s stance “absolutely untenable” and said limiting implementation to 2018 lacked any rational basis.Accordingly, the court directed the state to implement the Shetty Commission recommendations from April 1, 2003, pay the salary differences within six months and disburse arrears with 6% annual interest from Oct 7, 2009, till the date of actual payment.