Police personnel lowest-paid government employees: HC

The HC on Tuesday said that cops are the lowest-paid government employees and directed the state government to furnish the pay scales of various categories of police personnel in Maharashtra.

The Bombay high court on Tuesday said that police personnel are the lowest-paid government employees and directed the state government to furnish the pay scales of various categories of police personnel in Maharashtra.

HT Image

“We are given to understand that the police are the lowest-paid government employees. A constable is paid less than what a peon earns in other government establishments,” the division bench of Justice VM Kanade and Justice PD Kode said and directed public prosecutor Sandip Shinde to furnish details about the pay scales of posts in the police department.

The bench also asked Shinde about the work hours of the police personnel and felt that nothing can be expected from employees, who are poorly paid and required to put in long hours.

The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Pune resident Ashwini Rane, who questioned the skills of various investigating agencies, including the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Her husband, Nikhil, had been murdered by unidentified assailants on November 23, 2009, but none of the agencies investigating the case – the local police, Pune crime branch, state CID and even the CBI could crack the case.