E. Sudhakara Rao, vs State Of Andhra Pradesh,
2021 Latest Caselaw 1520 AP

   HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE M.SATYANARAYANA MURTHY

                 WRIT PETITION No.3598 of 2021

ORDER :

The petitioner, under Article 226 of the Constitution of

India, is claiming the following relief:

"to issue an appropriate Writ, Order or Direction more particularly one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus declaring the action of the respondents 3 and 4 in not releasing the arrears of salaries due to the petitioner to a tune of Rs.3,01,206/- for the period July, 2009 to 31.10.2015 as bad, illegal, arbitrary without jurisdiction, non-application of mind, abusive of power and violative of principles of natural justice and Articles 14, 21 & 300-A of the Constitution of India and consequently direct the respondents to pay the arrears of salary to the petitioner along with interest and pass such other orders."

The petitioner was appointed as Junior Assistant and,

after working for a brief period, he was appointed, by transfer,

as Executive Officer Grade - III on 31.10.2015. Prior to the

appointment of the petitioner as Executive Officer, he worked

in the establishment of respondent No.3 - Temple from

August, 2009 to October, 2015; after working as Executive

Officer Grade - III, he retired from service on 31.05.2018;

while working in respondent No.3 - Temple, the following

amounts due under different heads is:

1. Arrears of increment - Rs.1,42,977/-

2. Arrears increment 16 years - Rs. 48,376/-

3. Arrears increment 18 years - Rs. 35,531/-

      4.   2015 PRC Arrears              -    Rs. 74,322/-
                                              ________________
                                              Rs. 3,01,206/-
                                              _________________

      The      total   amount      due        to   the   petitioner   was

Rs.3,01,206/-. Periodical increments were granted to the

petitioner as per the proceedings of respondent No.3 - Temple

dated 30.06.2020, special increment for 16 years as well as

scale for the special promotional post was also granted and

2015 PRC scale was also implemented but, the extended

benefits were not paid till date. The alleged action is illegal

and violative of Articles 14, 21 & 300A of the Constitution of

India and requested to issue a direction.

Respondents filed counter denying material allegations

while admitting non-payment of arrears due to pandemic

Covid-19. The income of respondent No.3 - Temple was

reduced to minimum and, thereby, the arrears worked out by

the petitioner could not be paid and agreed to pay in

instalments from July, 2021 to September, 2021 and

requested to dismiss the Writ Petition.

The facts are not in dispute, including non-payment of

arrears to the petitioner, worked out by him, as stated in the

Writ Petition. The only reason for non-payment is reduction of

income of respondent No.3 - Temple due to pandemic Covid -

19.

This issue is squarely covered by the order of the

Division Bench of this Court in Dinavahi Lakshmi

Kameswari v. The State of Andhra Pradesh1 (W.P.(PIL)

No.128 of 2020 dated 11.08.2020), wherein this Court held

that pandemic is not an excuse for non-payment of salary

2020 (5) ALT 77

and directed to pay arrears with interest @ 12%. However, the

Supreme Court scaled down the interest to 6% from 12%.

In the instant case, the petitioner did not claim any

interest. However, in view of the judgment of the Division

Bench of this Court, as affirmed by the Supreme Court in The

State of Andhra Pradesh v. Dinavahi Lakshmi Kameswari

(Special Leave to Appeal (c) No.12553 of 2020), non-payment

of arrears to the petitioner by respondent No.3 - Temple is

illegal, arbitrary and violative of Articles 14, 21 & 300A of the

Constitution of India.

In any view of the matter, respondent No.3 - Temple

agreed to pay arrears during July, 2021 to September, 2021

in the counter itself.

Recording the submission of Sri G.Ramana Rao,

Standing Counsel for Endowments, respondent No.3 - Temple

is permitted to pay the arrears during the months from July,

2021 to September, 2021 in equal instalments.

With the above direction, the Writ Petition is disposed of

at the admission stage with the consent of both the counsel.

No order as to costs.

Consequently, miscellaneous application, if any, shall

stand closed.

_____________________________________ M.SATYANARAYANA MURTHY,J Dt:15.03.2021 usd