Friday, October 18, 2013
The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Madras Bench, has
quashed an order of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) recovering excess
payment made to its casual labourers. It also asked the BSNL to refund the
recovered amount.
They were initially inducted as
casual labourers/temporary status mazdoors in the organisation for digging
work for laying cables and installation of towers. They were treated on a par
with temporary Group ‘D’ employees for the purpose of subscribing to
General Provident Fund and drawing festivalallowance. Without issuing
any show-cause notice to them, BSNL in 2010 decided to revise their salary from
industrial pay scale to Central government pay scale and to recover the
overpayment.
Fifty-six casual labourers approached CAT seeking to set aside the
recovery of payment, and demanded payment as per Industrial pay scale. They
contended that they were already drawing less salary and the recovery from 2002
was illegal.
Defending its action, the BSNL said there was scope for such a
recovery from employees up to the date of cessation of service. If wages
were paid on the basis of industrial pay scale continuously to the applicants,
it would be discrimination to others in BSNL across the country.
Disposing of the applications, the Bench, comprising its
members B.Venkateswara Rao and P.Prabakaran, said that earlier the
applicants were granted higher scale of pay erroneously following a decision of
an incompetent authority and they could not be held at fault.Quashing the
impugned order of recovery, the Bench also said the BSNL was at
liberty to revise wages of casual labourers.
Source: the Hindu
