VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday issued interim orders directing the State government not to recover any amount from salaries of the employees during the implementation of the Pay Revision Commission (PRC). The court also questioned the employees as to how they can go ahead with their proposed strike when the matter is pending before the court.
The bench of Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice M Satyanarayana Murthy heard the Public Interest Litigation filed by AP Gazetted Officers Association president K Krishnaiah challenging the pay revision orders as they would lead to reduction in emoluments like DA, HRA and complete withdrawal of City Compensatory Allowance.
The bench stated going to strike by employees when the matter is in the court would amount to putting pressure on the court for grant of relief. When the court sought to know the salary the petitioner got in December 2021 and January 2022, Advocate General S Sriram informed that they filed a memo in this regard and said the petitioner got a basic pay of `51,230 in December and `78,820 in January.
The AG submitted a report on the salaries of employees of various cadres before and after the pay revision orders. Sriram also informed the court that the government is not resorting to recovery and maintained that salaries of all the employees have increased after the pay revision orders.
When the court pointed out about the reduced amount of HRA the AG said it is because of the downward revision of HRA, but the total pay has increased. The bench directed the government to file a counter affidavit and posted the matter to February 23.