No Adverse Impact On Pay Of Govt Employee Whose Cadre Is Downgraded Due To 40% Disability Sustained During Employment: Karnataka HC
Live LawThe Karnataka High Court has said that in the event an employee suffers from disability of 40% or more while performing duty, as a matter of right such an employee would be entitled for benefit of downgrading of cadre in order to continue service without any adverse impact on the pay and other benefits. A single judge bench of Justice Suraj Govindaraj gave this clarification while allowing a petition filed by a one M.B.Jayadevaiah and quashed the general order issued by Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation and directed it to restore pay of the petitioner applicable to the post of driver which the petitioner was drawing before his cadre was downgraded in the year 2002 and pay him arrears of salary and extend all other consequential benefits. Section 47, does not make any reference to Section 2 or to a person with disability requiring the ascertainment of percentage of disability to be 40%.” Further, rejecting the submission of the Corporation that in terms of the Circular No.681 issued in 1987, it was entitled to downgrade the cadre as also to fix the pay-scale as per downgraded cadre, the bench held “Once the Act had come into force, the Road Transport Corporation could not have relied upon the Circular for that purpose.” It added “It was but required for the Road Transport Corporation to make Section 47 of the Act applicable and once an employee’s cadre is downgraded and/or he is shifted to some other post, the pay-scale and service benefits as mandated under first proviso to Section 47 be protected.” Finally the court rejected the contention of the corporation that the downgrading to the attendant post was sought for by the petitioner himself and done on humanitarian grounds. The court said “The powers under regulation 20 of the Regulation can only be exercised in the event of the requirement under Section 2 of the Disabilities Act being fulfilled that is to say that the disability has to be 40% or more.” It said “In the event of the employee suffering from disability of 40% or more as a matter of right such an employee would be entitled for the benefit of Section 47 and for downgrading of the cadre without any adverse impact on the pay and the benefits.” Further it said “In the event of the disability being less than 40% then Section 2 of the Disabilities Act not being applicable, such a person not being a person with disability, Regulation 20 cannot be brought into force to downgrade the cadre of such an employee.” The court also suggested that whenever a request is made under Regulation 20, necessary instructions would have to be issued by the Road Transport Corporation to the Medical Board as also to the concerned employee that the certification of disability has to be obtained as on the date on which the request for downgrading of the cadre is made.
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