Service during the non-grant period counts for notional pay fixation and pension, but not salary arrears from the State.

The petitioners, lecturers at aided polytechnics, challenged a Government circular dated 10 April 2019 concerning pay refixation under the Karnataka Educational Institutions (Recruitment and Terms and Conditions of Employees in Aided Colleges of Education, Teachers Training Institutions) Act, 2014 (Act No. 7 of 2014).

They contended that the circular could not remain in force after the Act had been struck down as unconstitutional. The State submitted that no action could be taken under the circular following the Act’s invalidation.

The petitioners also sought relief consistent with paragraph 61 of the judgment in Writ Appeal No. 2476 of 2015 and connected appeals.

1. Whether the circular dated 10 April 2019 could continue to operate after Act No. 7 of 2014 was struck down.

2. Whether the petitioners’ pre-grant service was to be reckoned for pay fixation and consequential service benefits, and on what basis.

Act No. 7 of 2014, having been struck down as ultra vires Article 14 of the Constitution, could not sustain action under the circular issued to enforce its provisions.

Paragraph 61 of the judgment in Writ Appeal No. 2476 of 2015 and connected appeals, relying on the grant-in-aid framework and Annexure I to the Rules, 1999, provides that service during the non-grant period may be counted for notional pay fixation from the date the post is admitted to grant-in-aid and for consequential benefits, including pension and other service benefits; the State is not liable for salary arrears or other monetary benefits for the pre-grant period, for which liability remains with the institution’s management.

Since the circular sought to enforce a statute that had been struck down, and the State accepted that no action could be taken under it, the Court set the circular aside.

On the petitioners’ service-benefit claim, the Court applied paragraph 61 of the appellate judgment and directed the State authorities to reckon their service from the date of appointment for the specified service-benefit purposes, consistently with that judgment. The direction did not create an entitlement to pre-grant salary arrears from the State.

It directed Respondents 1 and 2 to apply paragraph 61 of the appellate judgment and reckon the petitioners’ service from the date of appointment for pay fixation, pension, and other service benefits, completing the consideration within six months of receiving a certified copy of the order.

The petition was disposed of.