Dear Editor,
The general rule regarding payment of salary during suspension period is that an employee under suspension draws subsistence allowance pending enquiry. On completion of enquiry, if the employee is found to be guilty of the charges levelled against him, the subsistence allowance paid to him will not be recovered and if the employee is exonerated of the charges, he will be paid the entire salary less the subsistence allowance paid during the period of suspension. Subsistence allowance paid will not be recovered on humanitarian grounds if the employee is found to be guilty. In the case of Anil Kumar Singh v. State of U.P. and others (Neutral Citation: 2024: AHC:45375), the Allahabad High Court has made right observation that the petitioner, working as a Routine Grade Clerk in a government college, cannot be denied salary for suspension for detention in jail in a criminal case since he was absolved of the charges framed against him. “No work, no pay” rule is not applicable when an employee is under detention in jail and subsequently cleared of the charges. This is what the court has observed and it is in line with the principles of natural justice too. The crux of the case is that no departmental inquiry was initiated against the employee after suspension. In this case, the suspension of the employee was revoked only after he was acquitted in the criminal case. Evidently, the employee in detention has undergone mental agony and the detention for no fault of his own is a blot on his service career. Service conditions in the government departments will be more or less the same in every state. No manual with service conditions can say that an employee who is prevented from discharging his legitimate duties due to administrative reasons or due to the erroneous assumption that the employee was guilty of misconduct is not entitled for his salary with attendant benefits. When an employee is exonerated, the suspension or detention shall be held to have been unjustified. Therefore the denial of salary makes no sense. The management of the College, reeling in the notion ‘no work, no pay’ has not applied its mind properly. Further, the service conditions clearly stipulate that an employee under compulsory waiting period during the period of transfer shall be entitled for his salary. The compulsory waiting period shall be officially treated as ‘duty period’. Employee’s leave account will not be debited. The message is clear that an employee is entitled for his salaries during the period he does not work if his abstention is due to the fault of management or for no fault of his own.
K.V. Seetharamaiah
