The High Court
Case Details
1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI W.P. (S) No.89 of 2021 With W.P. (S) No.468 of 2023 With W.P. (S) No.1427 of 2023 With W.P. (S) No.2631 of 2023 With W.P. (S) No.3344 of 2023 ----- 1. Agustin Hansdak 2. Benjamin Hansdak 3. Sukhu Hembrom 4. Lobin Hembrom 5. Sonot Besra 6. Matal Hembrom 7. Lukhin Hembrom 8. Ramesh Murmu 9. Sunil Hembrom 10. Surendra Murmu 11. Noyan Murmu 12. Mritunjay Marandi 13. Sonamati Marandi 14. Raj Vivekanand Marandi 15. Nayantara Hansda 16. Shankar Hembrom 17. Precilla Hansdak 18. Manoj Kumar Hembrom 19. Nicolas Hansdak 20. Sanatan Murmu 21. Satyender Murmu 22. Robin Murmu 23. Shankar Hansdak 24. Pramod Kumar 25. Holodi Soren 26. Manoj Kumar Hembrom 27. Sunil Kumar Murmu 28. Murari Chandra Manjhi 29. Kartik Dehri 30. Dinesh Kumar Murmu 31. Dhananjay Kumar 32. Prem Santosh Hansda 33. Anand Antony Besra 34. Minu Marandi 35. George P. Hembrom 36. Meena Nazrita Tudu 37. Neelu Nalini Tudu 38. Xavier Ashish Hembrom 39. Hupni Ujjwalata Hansda 40. Aruna Jacinta Hembrom 41. Paulina Soren 42. Sylvester Soren 2 43. Asha Rani Hansdak 44. Marcella Soren 45. Saimon Samuel Besra 46. Ram Dulari Kumari 47. Mistri Hembrom 48. Veronica Murmu 49. Prabhas Kumar Choudhary 50. Emely Marandi 51. Veronica Murmu 52. Elbina Murmu 53. Sunemi Soren 54. Devlal Murmu 55. Bilwasini Murmu 56. Rajesh Tudu 57. Satensheela Lilawati Kisku 58. Elbina Kisku 59. Piyush Murmu .......... Petitioners. [In W.P.(S) No.89/2021] 1. Mausam Kumar Thakur 2. Rajendra Kumar Jha 3. Md. Serajuddin 4. Vijay Prasad Sah 5. Md. Ansar Alam 6. Suresh Prasad Bhagat 7. Manoj Kumar Mishra 8. Som Nath Jha 9. Basant Kumar Thakur 10. Amitabh Kumar 11. Rajesh Kumar Snehi 12. Pankaj Kumar 13. Jay Kant Thakur 14. Md. Ekramul Haque 15. Nilambar Thakur 16. Yogendra Das 17. Devnandan Kumar 18. Pankaj Kumar Das 19. Robin Soren 20. Chatur Murmu 21. Bhanu Kumar 22. Md. Abdul Quaiyoom @ Md. Abdul Quaiyoom Quiser 23. Bijay Shankar Mahto 24. Barun Hembram @ Borna Hembram 25. Paku Murmu 26. Yogeshwar Mahto 27. Gaibinath Gupta 28. Sanjhli Hansda 29. Narendra Nath Bhagat 30. Paulina Hembrom 31. Jai Ram Murmu 32. Md. Khursid Alam 33. Ranjan Kumar Mishra 34. Dhaneshwar Pandit 3 35. Yoganand Prasad Singh 36. Hakimuddin Ansari 37. Smt. Sobha Mishra @ Sobha Mishra 38. Namita Kumari 39. Pinki Kumari 40. Prabha Kumari 41. Ajay Kumar Jha 42. Om Prakash Onkar 43. Kumar Pranav 44. Manoj Kumar Jha 45. Vinita Jha 46. Smt. Kiran Kumari 47. Om Prakash Mandal 48. Sapan Kumar Jha 49. Md. Nasir Ahmad 50. Arbind Kumar 51. Digambar Jha 52. Md. Sharif Ahmad 53. Dilip Kumar 54. Pushpa Kumari 55. Birendra Kumar Thakur 56. Raskin Kisku 57. Beena Basanti Murmu 58. Shyam Sunder Das 59. Awanti Prasad Choudhary 60. Dilip Kumar Mehra 61. Sudhir Kumar Mandal 62. Raman Kumar Dubey 63. Amarkant Yadav 64. Narendra Murmu 65. Sunil Kumar Sinha 66. Madan Kumar 67. Anil Kumar Sah 68. Sanjay Kumar Sanjay 69. Krishna Kumari 70. Asit Kumar Mandal 71. Boniface Baskey 72. Arvind Prasad Mandal 73. Manik Chandra Mandal 74. Mithilesh Kumar 75. Bachoo Ram 76. Ram Charitra Das 77. Rajesh Kumar Jha 78. Sunil Kumar Hansda 79. Manoj Kumar Bhagat 80. Kiran 81. Sanjay Kumar Mishra 82. Kumar Anand 83. Md. Umar Faruque Ansari 84. Shailendra Kumar Jha 85. Mritunjay Kumar Singh 86. Pushpa Kumari 87. Uttam Kumar Choubey 4 88. Ajit Kumar Singh 89. Bashishtha Paswan 90. Ram Sevak Paswan 91. Pramod Kumar Yadav 92. Anil Kumar Sah 93. Subrat Prasad Singh 94. Hari Kishor Thakur 95. Kiran Soren 96. Kumkum Kumari 97. Shashi Kumari 98. Nandlal Yadav @ Nandlal Mandal 99. Sanjay Kumar 100. Manoj Kumar 101. Manikant Mandal 102. Sanjeev Jha Suman 103. Urmila Kumari 104. Kamini Kumari 105. Ramdeo Thakur 106. Md. Naushad Alam 107. Md. Athar Hossain 108. Reeta Kumari 109. Karuna Kumari 110. Shashi Kant Mandal 111. Mahendra Marandi 112. Pramod Ram 113. Nakul Tatwa 114. Sunita Murmu 115. Premlata Kisku 116. Prem Ranjan Kumar Singh 1. Md. Abid Hussain Ansari 2. Manoj Kumar Paswan 3. Janmejay Kumar Dubey 4. Meraj Alam 5. Baban Kumar 6. Md. Ilyas Ansari 7. Sanjeev Kumar 8. Prabhat Kumar Verma 9. Rabindra Kumar 10. Mahmood Alam 11. Bimlesh Kumar 12. Md. Salim Ansari 13. Sanjay Kumar 14. Rajesh Chandra Paul 15. Anil Kumar Singh 16. Md. Sharif 17. Sujit Kumar Mahto 18. Megh Nath Mandal 19. Sudhir Pandey 20. Ajay Kumar 21. Bishu Kumar 22. Pramod Kumar .......... Petitioners. [In W.P.(S) No.468/2023] 5 23. Gopal Chandra Gorai 24. Chanchal Kumar Tiwary 25. Rakesh Kumar Lal 26. Kameshwar Rajak 27. Madan Kumar Sinha 28. Rajiv Kumar Singh 29. Sunil Kumar Ray 30. Ramswarup Prasad 31. Suresh Kumar Harizan 32. Ramswarup Prajapati 33. Binay Kumar 34. Chandra Kishore Sharma 35. Anil Kumar Singh 36. Swapan Kumar Mahto 37. Prabendra Paswan 38. Binod Das 39. Pravin Kumar 40. Rameshwar Das 41. Mohammad Shams Tabrez 42. Gaya Choudhary 43. Renu Kumari 44. Jai Prakash 45. Anand Prakash 46. Vasant Kumar Indraguru 47. Umesh Prasad Singh 48. Om Prakash Lal 49. Ajit Kumar 50. Abu Sayeed 1. Dhananjay Mahto 2. Monica Soy 3. Ranthu Ram 4. Asif Nadeem 5. Md. Naiyar Ejaz 6. Milisent Barla 7. Jyoti Kerketta 8. Jolen Soy 9. Baddinath Munda 10. Nutan Hemrom 11. Bilkan Mundu 12. Calra Patricia Kerketta 13. Asha Albina Nag 14. Binita Tigga 15. Sheshawati Lakra 16. Sujata Sushila Minz 17. Sheelwanti Purty 18. Goma Kumari Soy 19. Shailendra Pathak 20. Dibya Goreti Soy 21. Ashok Kumar Mahto 22. Ghasi Ram Mahto 23. Birendra Kumar Tirkey .......... Petitioners. [In W.P.(S) No.1427/2023] 6 24. Sangit Kumar Jha 25. Shyamali Chakravarty 26. Sunita Purti 27. Sanjay Kumar Sinha 28. Bahalen Oreya 29. Moylen Aind 30. Elizabeth Tirkey 31. Hari Kali Oreya 32. Shobha Purti 33. Vibha Sharma 34. Eva Shan 35. Dayakanti Mundu 36. Bimola Kandulna 37. Abraham Tuti 38. Raen Tigga 39. Archana Kandulna 40. Rajendra Sahu 41. Ashim Sajit Deepak Malwa 42. Kartic Ram 43. Sushma Kumari 44. Sunil Kumar Mahto 45. Mahesh Prasad Sahu 46. Buddhdeo Munda 47. Chaitan Manohar Topno 48. Reema Bara 49. Anita Kumari 50. Vartika Kumari 51. Rani Purti 52. Binay Kumar Singh 53. Rajeshwar Prasad Gupta 54. Jasbir James Lakra 55. Ram Vinay Rai 56. Bhushan Singh 57. Manish Chandra Nayak 58. Francis Lakra 59. Gandura Nicholas Dhanwar 60. Jalendra Oraon 61. Anil Bhengra 62. Vishwamitra Ram 63. Jashmani Salomi Nag 64. Veer Bahadur 65. Ranjit Singh Kachhap 66. Magdali Purti 67. Elizabeth Tiru 68. Ravi Raman Tripathi 69. Manjul Guria 70. Nakul Ram 71. Kiran Horo 72. Nilam Purti 73. Raju Mahli 74. Munuren Kumari Sanga 75. Hemant Runda 76. Suman Suri Bodra 7
Legal Reasoning
77. Manoj Kumar Nayak 78. Satyendra Kumar 79. Sanjay Kumar 80. Shantimani Surin 81. Kiran Bala Sunita Surin 82. Epil Horo 83. Albina Horo 84. Neelima Bhengra 85. Rosalia Topno 86. Marry Neelam Hemrom 87. Thomas Barla 88. Sarani Topno 89. Dayamani Kongari 90. Raju Ranjan Prasad 91. Jai Prakash Mehta 92. Paulina Horo 93. Basant Kumar Mahto 94. Manorama Minj 95. Felix A.P. Kandir 96. Hathiram Munda 97. Chunnilal Singh Munda 98. Chapeshwar Mahto 99. Anant Singh Munda 100. Nilmohan Mahto 101. Tejnarayan Mahto 102. Hari Kansi 103. Baby Kumari 104. Premlata Kumari 105. Prakash Chandra Srivastava 106. Pankaj Kumar 107. Sushma Dhan 108. Sunila Toppo 109. Rakesh Junas Tirkey 110. Marcel Aind 111. Manohar Mahli 112. Olive Onol Topno 113. Birendra Manjhi 114. Dil Kishore Mahto 115. Shambhu Kumar 116. Phaguwa Mahukal 117. Binod Kumar Singh 118. Anju Kumari 119. Ganesh Pahan 120. Rose Toppo 121. Anima Manjula Surin 122. Nirmala Kumari 123. Roselima Kerketta 124. Neelam Nag 125. Sainath Mahto 126. Ramcharan Mukhiyar 127. Gangi Nag 128. Grace Kandulna 129. Emlin Bhengra 8 130. Anita Xaxa 131. Poonam Tirkey 132. Halyani Herenj 133. Monica Munni Tiru 134. Pushpa Horo 135. Rashmi Sumi Dodray 136. Samson Bhengra 137. Ashamani Kumari Baraik 138. Flora Bhengra 139. Jitbahan Swansi 140. Chitranjan Munda 141. Samra Munda 142. Subhash Herenj 143. Senen Topno 144. Rambihari Chauhan 145. Sudhanshu Kumar Dutta 146. Philomina Horo 147. Nilu Sandhya Ekka 148. Nilima Usha Kiran Toppo 149. Punam Khalkho 150. Sandhya Beronica Bhengra 151. Seema Khalkho 152. Jyoti Hemrom 153. Mebal Asha Guria 154. Sandhya Kujur 155. Kiran Lakra 156. Shyam Kumar Rajak 157. Harshit Dungdung 158. Sanshya Tirkey 159. Asha Toppo 160. Homa Dhan 161. Gangu Tuti 162. Basanti Oreya 163. Simon George Toppo 164. Praveen Ekka 165. Jaywant Kumar Nag 166. Savitri Kumari 167. Subodh Munda 168. Ramesh Sahu 1. Rajeev Ranjan Pandey 2. Madhusudan Prasad 3. Rajesh Kumar Mishra 4. Shakti Shekhar 5. Sujit Kumar 6. Uttam Kumar Singh 7. Hari Pad Kumbhakar 8. Kali Ram Manjhi 9. Dipankar Mahto 10. Gopal Chandra Mahto 11. Rakhal Chandra Rajak 12. Ajab Singh Sardar .......... Petitioners. [In W.P.(S) No.2631/2023] 9 13. Alok Kumar Mishra 14. Ajit Singh Sardar 15. Kalicharan Singh Sardar 16. Mangal Singh 17. Devendra Nath Singh 18. Prabhu Das Kujur 19. Narendra Kumar Singh 20. Dilip Kumar Singh 21. Parshuram Roy 22. Aditya Kumar Mohanty 23. Brahmba Pada Mohanty 24. Jamil Ahmad Ansari 25. Mohammad Khurshid Alam 26. Zubair Ali 27. Irshad Ahmad 28. Raghunath Murmu 29. Shishir Kumar Sahu 30. Shyam Bihari Singh 31. Shivjee Singh 32. Sanjay Kumar 33. Pradip Kumar 34. Manik Chandra Singh 35. Kamla Kant Singh 36. Bala Hari Manjhi 37. Aftab Alam 38. Anand Munda 39. Kanu Ram Manjhi 40. Pitho Soren 41. Kali Pada Baskey 42. Upendra Nath Hemram 43. Sukhendu Kumar Mandi 44. Parbati Charan Shahis 45. Shanti Ram Hansda 46. Madhav Kumar 47. Pintu Ram Das 48. Lucia Kujur 49. Sunita Kumari 50. Anil Kumar Rai 51. Rajeev Kumar Singh 52. Ravindra Kishore Prasad 53. Vandana Kumari 54. Shalini Kachhap 55. Harendra Kumar Singh 56. Mahaima Aind 57. Shyam Murmu 58. Priti Marks 59. Saroj Mundu 60. Ranjeet Kumar Mahato 61. Archana Kumari 62. Ramesh Kumar Tiwary 63. Yashwant Singh 64. Bishnu Pada Mohanty 65. Ranjit Kumar Singh 10 66. Pradip Kumar Dutta 67. Anil Kumar 68. Navita Ekka 69. Seema Bilung 70. Poli Rani Ghosh 71. Bindu Kumari 72. Rezy Tirky 73. Dhananjay Kumar Singh 74. Rinky Katyan 75. Geeta 76. Ajay Kumar Singh 77. Md. Shahabuddin Ansari 78. Shyam Lal Honhaga 79. Budheshwar Tudu 80. Murku Soren 81. Budhram Soren .......... Petitioners. [In W.P.(S) No.3344/2023] -Versus- 1. The State of Jharkhand 2. The Secretary, Planning-cum-Finance Department, Government of Jharkhand, Ranchi. 3. The Secretary, School Education & Literacy Department, Government of Jharkhand, Ranchi. 4. The Director, Primary Education, School Education & Literacy Department, Government of Jharkhand, Ranchi. 5. The Deputy Commissioner, Dumka. 6. The District Superintendent of Education, Dumka. .......... Respondents. [In W.P.(S) No.89/2021] 1. The Secretary, Planning-cum-Finance Department, Government of Jharkhand, Ranchi. 2. The Deputy Commissioner, Godda. 3. The District Superintendent of Education, Godda. 4. The District Accounts Officer, Godda. 5. Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy, Government of Jharkhand, Ranchi. .......... Respondents. [In W.P.(S) No.468/2023] 1. The State of Jharkhand through the Principal Secretary, Department of Personnel, Administrative Reforms and Rajbhasha, Government of Jharkhand, Ranchi. 2. The Secretary, Planning-cum-Finance Department, Government of Jharkhand, Ranchi. 3. The Deputy Commissioner, Dhanbad. 4. The District Superintendent of Education (D.S.E.), Dhanbad. 5. The District Accounts Officer, Dhanbad. 6. Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy, Government of Jharkhand, Ranchi. .......... Respondents. [In W.P.(S) No.1427/2023] 11 1. The Secretary, Department of Planning-cum-Finance, Government of Jharkhand, Ranchi. 2. The Deputy Commissioner, Khunti. 3. The District Superintendent of Education, Khunti. 4. The District Accounts Officer, Khunti. 5. The Secretary, Department of School Education & Literacy, Government of Jharkhand, Ranchi. .......... Respondents. [In W.P.(S) No.2631/2023] 1. The State of Jharkhand through the Secretary, School Education and Literacy Department, Government of Jharkhand, Ranchi. 2. The Principal Secretary, Department of Personnel, Administrative Reforms and Rajbhasha, Government of Jharkhand, Ranchi. 3. The Secretary, Planning-cum-Finance Department, Government of Jharkhand, Ranchi. 4. The Director, Primary Education, School Education & Literacy Department, Government of Jharkhand, Ranchi. 5. The District Education Establishment Committee, through the Deputy Commissioner, East Singhbhum, Jamshedpur. 6. The District Superintendent of Education (D.S.E.), East Singhbhum, Jamshedpur. .......... Respondents. [In W.P.(S) No.3344/2023] ----- CORAM : HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH SHANKAR ----- For the Petitioners : For the State : Mr. Amit Kumar Tiwari, Advocate Mr. Rahul Kumar, Advocate Mr. Kishore Kr. Singh, S.C.V Mr. A. K. Geasen, A.C. to AAG-IA Mr. P. C. Singh, A.C. to G.A.III Mr. Abhinay Kumar, A.C. to G.A.I ----- Order No.11 Date: 07.12.2023 1. At the request of learned counsel for the petitioners, the Secretary, Department of School Education & Literacy, Government of Jharkhand is directed to be impleaded as respondent no.5 in W.P.(S) Nos.468 & 2631/2023 and respondent no.6 in W.P.(S) No.1427 of 2023. 2. Necessary insertion in the cause title of the said writ petitions be made by the counsel for the petitioners in course of the day. 12 3. All these writ petitions have been filed primarily for issuance of direction upon the concerned respondents to correct and fix the pay scale of the petitioners, considering the minimum basic pay of Rs.16,290/- under 6th Pay Revision, as per resolution of Finance Department dated 28th February, 2009 published in Jharkhand Extra-ordinary Gazette. Further prayer has been made for issuance of direction upon the concerned respondents to pay the arrears of salary and other consequential benefits to the petitioners after correction/ fixation of their pay considering minimum basic pay of Rs.16,290/-. 4. Reference may be made to the order dated 8th August, 2023, passed in W.P.(S) No.89 of 2021, which reads as under:- “The petitioners are claiming the benefits in view of revised pay band and grade pay as admissible under S-12 i.e. Entry Pay Scale of 6500- 10500 having correspondence scale of Rs. 9300-34800 with grade pay 4200 and revised pay scale of Rs.16290. However, the same has been disputed by the learned counsel for the respondents. Learned counsel appearing for the respondents submits that as per the policy decision of the Finance Department, the petitioners are not entitled for the pay scale, as claimed by them. However, nothing has been brought on record to show that as to why the petitioners are not entitled for the pay scale as claimed by them. Let a specific affidavit to that effect be filed by the Secretary of the Department within a period of three weeks. Put up this case on 11.09.2023.” 5. These writ petitions were thereafter taken up on 8th November, 2023. However, no specific counter affidavit has been filed by the Secretary, Department of Planning-cum-Finance, Government of Jharkhand, Ranchi in these writ petitions in 13 terms with the order dated 8th August, 2023 except W.P.(S) No.89 of 2021. 6. In Paragraph nos.7 and 8 of the specific counter affidavit dated 30th September, 2023 filed on behalf of the Principal Secretary, Department of Finance, Government of Jharkhand, Ranchi in W.P.(S) No.89 of 2021, it has been stated as under:- That it is humbly stated and submitted that the “7. answering department on receipt of the representation from petitioners and in compliance of the order dated 05.12.2022passed in W.P.(S) No.3759 of 2020, has sent necessary inputs to the administrative School Education and Literacy Department for further necessary action, as per this Hon’ble court’s order. 8. That it humbly stated and submitted that the
Decision
instant petition may also be disposed of in terms of the order passed in W.P.(S) No.3759 of 2020 vide order dated 05.12.2022.” 7. Considering the aforesaid statements made in the specific counter affidavit filed on behalf of the Principal Secretary, Department of Finance, Government of Jharkhand, it would be appropriate to refer relevant part of the order dated 5th December, 2022 passed by a co-ordinate Bench of this Court in W.P.(S) No.3759 of 2020, which reads as under:- Learned counsel for the petitioners has also “7. referred to paragraph 17 of the writ petition to submit that the anomaly with regard to the pay has arisen in the case of the employees of the secretariat , Government of Jharkhand, Ranchi and they had also filed their representation before the authority concerned and after considering the provisions of resolution dated 28.02.2009 issued vide Resolution No. 660 dated 01.10.2019 by the Finance Department, their grade has been revised and the petitioners are also entitled to the same relief. He submits that they have been placed in S- 13 grade and the petitioners are claiming S-12 grade. 8. After hearing the learned counsel for the parties and considering the facts and circumstances of this case, this Court finds that the petitioners are seeking a mandamus from this Court on the basis of various 14 circulars and decisions of the respondents with regards to the employees of the secretariat, Government of Jharkhand, Ranchi and as per the petitioners, they are entitled to similar reliefs. It has been submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioners that those circulars and decisions have been annexed along with the writ petition. It further appears that the petitioners have filed representation before the respondent no. 3 as well as before respondent no. 5. 9. This court further finds that the petitioners are seeking a mandamus from this Court in connection with re-fixation of their payscales which is essentially within the domain of the respondents who are to consider the claim with regards to various provision of law and applicable circulars and decisions of the government. They have also filed representation before the respondent nos. 3 and 5, but no decision has been taken. 10. During the course of argument, the learned counsel for the petitioners has submitted that the matter can be considered by the respondent no. 2, who would be the authority and in the best position to deal with the various circulars issued by the Finance Department. However, it is not in dispute that the departmental Secretary of the petitioners is respondent no.3, before whom the petitioners have already filed representation. 11. Considering the nature of dispute involved in the present case, this writ petition is disposed of enabling the petitioners to file a detailed representation before the respondent no. 2 as well as respondent no. 3 along with a copy of the writ records and a copy of this order. Upon filing of such representation, the respondent no. 2 shall give the necessary inputs in connection with the entitlement of the petitioners to the respondent no. 3 within a period of two months from the date of the representation. 12. Upon receipt of the inputs from respondent no. 2 in connection with the applicability of the various circulars of the State Government which may be relied upon by the petitioners, the respondent no. 3 shall pass a reasoned order after granting an opportunity of hearing to one representative of the petitioners. 13. It is further observed that the claim and the foundational details in connection with each and every petitioner should be separately provided by the 15 petitioners so that a final decision is taken with regard to the claim of each of the petitioners. 14. This writ petition is accordingly disposed of. 15. It is made clear that it is for the respondents to act strictly in accordance with the various circulars and notifications of the State Government and this Court has not gone into the merit or otherwise of the claims of the petitioners.” 8. Keeping in view that the issue raised in the present writ petitions is similar to that of W.P.(S) No.3759 of 2020, all these writ petitions are also disposed of in terms with the order dated 5th December, 2022 passed in the said writ petition. 9. Accordingly, the petitioners are given liberty to prefer representation(s) before the Secretary, Department of Planning-cum-Finance Department, Government of Jharkhand and the Secretary, Department of School Education & Literacy, Government of Jharkhand, Ranchi along with relevant documents. On receipt of the representation(s), the Secretary, Department of Planning-cum-Finance Department shall provide necessary inputs/information in connection with the petitioners’ claim to the Secretary, Department of School Education & Literacy, Government of Jharkhand, who, in turn, shall take appropriate decision in terms with relevant circular(s)/notification(s)/office order(s) etc. issued by the Government in this regard within two months from the date of filing of the representation(s). Sanjay/ (Rajesh Shankar, J.)