Srinagar: The High Court of J&K and Ladakh High Court has asked the government to inform it as to why funds are not being provided for payment of wages to the daily-wagers of the subordinate judiciary. Hearing a batch of petitions, a division bench of Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul directed the authorities to file their complete response clearly stating as to why funds are not being provided for payment of wages to the daily-wagers of the subordinate judiciary.
The Court also asked the “State authorities as to why daily-wagers of the subordinate judiciary are not being paid the same pay as is admissible to other workers discharging the same duties. The Government has also been asked to reveal its stand with regard to absorption and regularization in service of the daily-wagers of the subordinate judiciary.
The petitions before the court are regarding creation of requisite class IV posts in the establishment of the High Court and the subordinate judiciary, payment of wages to all class IV employees and for release of necessary funds, Entitlement of the daily-wagers for equal pay for equal work at par with other workers discharging similar and equal work and regularization of the daily-wagers working in the judicial establishment for a considerable period. The court also directed the Registrar General to inform the action taken by the High Court with regard to the constitution of the Empowered Committee for scrutinizing the cases of daily-wagers in terms of SRO 520 dated 21.12.2017 and the progress, if any, thereof. The Court sought the response from the authorities within three weeks.