Bhubaneswar: The Orissa High Court on Tuesday directed a cooperative bank to grant higher salary to a 54-year-old woman who was hired as a peon in 2001 but had been working as a cashier.
Disposing a 14-year-old case filed by the woman employee of United Puri-Nimapara Central Cooperative Bank, justice MS Raman on Tuesday ruled that she could not be denied the cashier’s salary when she had been discharging her duty as cashier “sincerely, honestly and efficiently” and was considered fit by the branch manager to be considered for regularisation in the post of cashier.
“After exploiting the service of the employee in higher post with pay attached to the lower grade for more than two decades, it would be harsh to regularise her in the post of “peon” while continuing with the job of “cashier”. An employee cannot be deprived of his/her right to get a higher salary/scale of pay if he/she discharges the duties of a higher office, especially when her eligibility as per the rules and competence in the post remained unquestionable,” the court bench said.
The employee, Tilottama Baliarsingh, was initially appointed as a temporary peon in July 1999 under the Rehabilitation Assistance Scheme following the death of her husband, who was a manager at the same cooperative bank.
{{/usCountry}}The employee, Tilottama Baliarsingh, was initially appointed as a temporary peon in July 1999 under the Rehabilitation Assistance Scheme following the death of her husband, who was a manager at the same cooperative bank.
{{/usCountry}}She was made cashier-in-charge of the bank’s branch in 2001. The bank regularised her services a decade later in October 2011 but only as a peon, not as a cashier despite a favourable performance report by the branch manager.
Baliarsingh approached the high court in 2011.
She argued that she fulfilled the requirements under the Central Cooperative Banks’ Staff Service Rules, 1984, to be a cashier in October 2010 when the decision to regularise her appointment as a peon was taken.
The high court said a widow of a deceased employee could be appointed to “any post befitting to the qualification” and though she was appointed as a temporary peon due to the lack of a permanent vacancy, it was arbitrary on part of the bank to exploit her services in the higher post for over two decades but regularise her in a lower grade with lower pay.
Justice Sri Raman observed that the bank’s order regularising her as a peon failed to provide any reason for disregarding the branch manager’s favourable report regarding her performance as a cashier.
The court quashed the bank’s October 2011 order regularising Baliarsingh as a peon and asked it to reconsider her case for regularisation in the post of cashier in next 3 months. The court also said that in the event of a favourable reconsideration for the post of cashier, Baliarsingh would be entitled to the higher scale of pay.