Jharkhand High Court Orders State to Implement DACP Benefits for Doctors

Ranchi: The Jharkhand high court, upholding the concept of equality within the same class, ordered the state govt to provide the dynamic assured career progression (DACP) scheme benefits to all employees of the medical cadre within eight weeks.The court of Justice Ananda Sen was hearing two petitions filed by 53 state govt doctors, claiming the DACP and other consequential benefits accrued in consonance with other staff, who have been given similar DACP benefits.The DACP scheme was floated by the govt and extended to all persons in the medical cadre. The cut-off date was fixed but the govt modified it to September 1, 2008. Earlier, the scheme was made effective from April 5, 2002, and the DACP benefits were granted with effect from April 2002 and financial benefit was granted from April 1, 2009.Subsequently, the govt issued a notification on January 15, 2014, by which DACP benefits granted to the employees of the medical cadre earlier was withdrawn. The employees then challenged the matter before the Jharkhand high court and a division bench on August 2, 2023, observed that shifting of the date by the govt was improper.The govt, too, challenged the matter before the Supreme Court which also dismissed the petition.

The current petitioners were affected by the shifting of the date from which benefits of DACP would have accrued but were not given the benefits because they had not appeared in the earlier round of litigation taken up by some co-employees before the high court. The state govt held that since these petitioners had not moved before the high court claiming any relief earlier, they could not be given the benefits they have claimed for.Arguing on behalf of these “left-out” doctors, advocates Debolina Sen Hirani and Kashyapi said that similar benefits as claimed by the petitioners have been given to their co-employees.The argument that since these petitioners had not approached the court earlier, they have been denied those benefits, cannot be allowed to be sustained as it is the policy decision of the state which has been struck down by the high court and subsequently affirmed by the Supreme Court.Therefore, everyone affected by that policy would have to be given the same benefits, the lawyers pleaded.The court of Justice Ananda Sen after having heard the matter passed the judgement on September 2, observing that it is a principal of law that when an issue has been decided and confirmed up to the Apex Court, similarly situated person who fall in the same class should be given the same benefits, irrespective of the fact that they have filed any litigation before the court or not.