VIJAYAWADA: Taking a serious view of the State government withdrawing money from the general provident fund (GPF) accounts of the employees without informing them, the Andhra Pradesh High Court questioned the government how it could act against the court’s previous orders.
While hearing a PIL filed by AP Gazetted Officers Joint Action Committee chairman KV Krishnaiah, challenging the government order issued with regard to the new Pay Revision Commission (PRC), the HC observed that the government’s action amounts to contempt of court.
When the division bench of Chief Justice Prasanth Kumar Mishra and Justice DVSS Somayajulu said it would serve notices to the chief secretary, Advocate General S Sriram sought time to submit full details of the case. The court then posted the hearing to July 12.The bench directed the government not to cut even a single paisa from the total salary of any government employee.
The court also instructed the government not to recover any amount, that was deposited at the time when the new PRC was not implemented, from the salaries of the employees. Any violation of the orders would be viewed seriously, the court observed.
Before hearing the petition, the judges noted that they read in the newspapers that the government had withdrawn money from the employees’ GPF accounts. Petitioner’s counsel P Ravi Teja informed the court that Rs 91,221 was withdrawn from Krishnaiah’s account too. Intervening, Advocate General S Sriram said the government is ready to clearly explain the issue and sought time.