Annual increments cannot be withheld when authorities fail to conduct the required Hindi typing test.

The petitioner, appointed on compassionate grounds as Assistant Sub Inspector (Ministerial) on 6 January 2020 and subsequently regularized, claimed that annual increments had been withheld because he had not passed the Hindi Typing Skill Test.

He submitted that the competent authority had not conducted the test and that the respondents had acknowledged this in a communication dated 10 September 2026. His representation seeking correction of the pay anomaly remained unresolved.

The parties submitted that the issue was covered by the High Court’s decision in WPS No. 12525 of 2025, dated 6 October 2026.

Whether the petitioner could be denied annual increments for 2020–2023 because he had not passed the Hindi Typing Skill Test when the required test had not been conducted by the respondents.

Whether the petitioner’s entitlement to future increments remained subject to qualifying the Hindi Typing Skill Test under the applicable policy.

Although a compassionate appointee must comply with the applicable policy requiring the Hindi Typing Skill Test, increments for a period during which the authorities did not conduct the requisite examination cannot be denied solely because the employee did not pass it.

Further increments and regularization remain subject to appearing in and qualifying the test in accordance with the applicable policy.

The Court found that the facts and issue in the petitioner’s case were identical to those addressed in WPS No. 12525 of 2025 and declined to take a different view.

Applying that decision, it held that the petitioner was entitled to the increments falling due during 2020–2023 despite the stated failure to conduct the test, while the requirement to qualify for future increments remained governed by the applicable policy.

The respondents were directed to refix the petitioner’s pay by granting the increments due for 2020–2023 and to release the consequential monetary benefits in accordance with law within three months of receiving a copy of the order.