Slams Delay Over “No Govt Order” Excuse
Shimla, June 17:
In a major relief to Dr. Bhawani Singh, Associate Professor in the Hindi Department at Himachal Pradesh University (HPU), the Himachal Pradesh High Court on Tuesday directed the university to release his pending salary and arrears with 6% interest if not paid within six weeks.
The court also pulled up the university and the state government for denying salary on the pretext of not having a "separate order" from the state.
Justice Sandeep Sharma, while allowing the writ petition (CWP No.11245 of 2024), termed the university’s and government’s justification as "untenable", saying the denial of pay for the promotional post under the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS) violates mandatory UGC regulations.
Dr. Singh was appointed Assistant Professor in 2016 and promoted to Associate Professor under CAS with effect from September 9, 2022, after fulfilling all UGC conditions. The university had even issued the promotion order on July 4, 2023. However, despite serving as Associate Professor since then, Dr. Singh was not paid the corresponding salary.
HPU told the court it couldn't release the salary until a separate order was issued by the state government, citing a 2022 notification. The Education Department later informed the court that the proposal was rejected by the Finance Department, which said CAS was no longer valid under the revised state pay rules effective January 3, 2022.
The court was unimpressed. Justice Sharma cited multiple Supreme Court rulings, including Gambhirdan K. Gadhvi vs. State of Gujarat (2022) and Professor (Dr.) Sreejith P.S. vs. Dr. Rajshree M.S. (2022), to assert that UGC regulations have statutory force and prevail over conflicting state provisions. The judge emphasized that once the UGC rules are adopted, neither the state nor the university can delay or deny benefits under them.
“It is quite apparent from the aforesaid exposition of law that UGC regulations are mandatory and cannot be ignored or sidetracked on the pretext that a separate order from the State Government is awaited,” the court ruled.
Calling the denial of pay to an already promoted professor “legally unsustainable,” the court said HPU had no excuse. “It does not lie in the mouth of respondent-University to claim that till the time approval in that regard is not granted by the State of Himachal Pradesh, salary of the promotional post cannot be released,” the judgment stated.
The university has now been directed to pay the due salary with arrears from the date of promotion and do so within six weeks. If it fails, it will have to pay 6% interest on the arrears from the due date till the actual payment.
The ruling reaffirms that UGC norms are not just academic guidelines but carry the weight of law — and universities can't hide behind bureaucratic smokescreens to deny rightful dues to teachers.
