Pay hike cannot be denied if worker not facing probe: court

GANDHINAGAR - The government cannot deny a pay hike to an employee if there is no disciplinary action pending against him at the time of a salary review, the Gujarat High court has ruled.

Justice A.L. Dave, while hearing a case of state government employee Suresh Bhambhani, said that a pay hike cannot be denied to a worker when there were no departmental proceedings pending against him on the date of entitlement of such benefit.

Bhambhani approached the court challenging the government’s decision of denying him a salary hike on the grounds that he faced disciplinary action earlier.

While accepting his plea, Justice Dave relied upon an earlier court order that said that benefit cannot be denied to an employee when he was not facing any departmental action on the due entitlement date.

The court order was made available Tuesday.