KULBHUSHANTRIPATHI Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) IN all these writ applications common questions of iaw and facts arise and as such they are being disposed of together.

(2.) FACTS lie in a very narrow compass. Petitioners in all the cases were engaged on daily wages to work as Peons between the period 1980 to 1982 excepting Kulbhushan Tripathy, petitioner in CWJC No. 8323 of 2001, who was appointed on 22.8.1987. It seems that some of the peons engaged on daily wages were paid salary at the minimum of the basic pay to such category of employees applying the principle of equal pay for equal work. The respondent -Bihar State Land Development Bank (hereinafter referred to as the Bank) while it was under supersession and was under the control of an Administrator, issued order dated 9.11.2000 terminating the engagement of all the daily wage employees including the petitioners and those who were getting the minimum of pay. It is this order of the administrator dated 9.11.2000 which has been challenged in these writ applications.

(3.) COUNTER affidavit has been filed on behalf of the Bank and its officers, in which their stand is that the financial condition of the Bank is extremely bad and if immediate step for reduction in the number of the employees is not taken the Bank will die in near future under pressure of over staffing. The answering respondents went to the extent of saying that the Bank is facing difficulty even in the payment of monthly salary of its regular/permanent employees. Assertion of the petitioner is that although they have been disengaged, four of such daily wage employees have been allowed to continue by order dated 30.3.2001 (Annexure -7 of CWJC No. 8323 of 2001). It has also been pointed out that the sanctioned strength of the employees of the Bank is 3033 whereas in fact 2268 employees are working. The stand of the respondent is that so far as the post of peons are concerned, total sanctioned post is 587 and such numbers of peons are working.