Landmark Judgement Illegal denying salary to disabled staff during lockdown: HC to BMC Times of India 29-10-2020 ‘Pay Arrears in 2 Instalments—Before Diwali & Then Within 45 Days’
rosy.seque...@timesgroup.com Mumbai: Holding that the BMC’s action of withholding salary to its physically disabled employees absent during the coronavirus lockdown was illegal, the Bombay high court on Wednesday directed the civic body to pay them arrears in two instalments. The first will be paid before Diwali and the second within 45 days thereafter. “We direct the corporation to ensure that none of the physically disabled employees, who have not reported for duty during the pandemic, are denied pay benefits which they would have been entitled to, but for the pandemic and had they reported for duty,” said a bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Girish Kulkarni. The verdict came on a PIL by the National Association for the Blind which said around 250 blind and low vision employees got zero salary. The Centre, on March 27, and the state government, on April 21, exempted employees with disabilities from reporting for duty during the lockdown. On May 2, the BMC announced that its disabled staffers were entitled to a special leave without loss of pay. But, on May 26, it issued a circular that it was not a special leave, but a permissible leave which requires sanction and involves a pay loss. The BMC has nearly 1,150 physically disabled employees, including 278 visually impaired The judges noted that while the BMC initially favoured exemption, a “change of mindset resulted in revision of its earlier decision” and it was not backed by tangible evidence of physically disabled employees not facing inconvenience or discomfort while travelling to their workplace or “reference to any incident that could act as a trigger for such decision”. “If the civic body was not inclined to offer financial benefits, like pay physically disabled employees who do not report for duty, it was its duty as a model employer to make special arrangements for public transport or special measures to ensure hassle-free travel for these employees...” The judges added that the right to free access is a right guaranteed by the Right of Persons With Disabilities Act 2016. Although it casts a duty on the state, nothing prevented the BMC as local authority from taking suitable measures for its physically disabled employees. The judges said the BMC’s ‘flip-flop’ has intrigued them and there was no explanation for it. “This volte-face deserves to be viewed seriously and disapproved strongly.” They accepted the argument of the association’s advocate Uday Warunjikar that the BMC, by its impugned action, has shown its inhuman and insensitive face, much to the detriment and prejudice of its disabled staffers. -- Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list.. Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "AccessIndia" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to accessindia+unsubscr...@accessindia.org.in. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/a/accessindia.org.in/d/msgid/accessindia/CADetga_Vvs0TnL5TAQ4Rx1OpthRoXmEw1Bgek3vaJUGYqmdmQQ%40mail.gmail.com.
