HC: Devise transparent system for paying salary to outsourced employees

Saurabh Malik

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Chandigarh, September 12

In a significant judgment liable to change the way salaries are paid to outsourced employees, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has called for devising a mechanism for payment in a transparent manner by the service provider.

Justice Arun Monga of the High Court asserted that the state’s Irrigation Department was well advised to devise the mechanism for the payment of salary through electronic transmission. Alternatively, the department should insist on the proof of payment made to the outsourced employee.

This, Justice Monga asserted, could be done by obtaining specific receipt regarding each outsourced employee from the service provider every month. “Only thereafter, the future dues shall be remitted to the service provider in order to avoid situation of the kind as has arisen in the present case.”

The assertion came on a petition filed by Bhagwan Singh and other petitioners through counsel Mohit Rathee. They were, among other things, seeking directions to the engineer-in-chief of the Irrigation Department and other respondents to release the petitioners’ salary from November 1, 2011, to October 31, 2012, and January 1, 2014, to April 30, 2014.

Justice Monga observed the respondents’ stand in the matter was that the writ petition was liable to be dismissed as the petitioner never worked with them. Sanction was not granted by the government regarding them. The manpower was provided by two service providers.

It was added that the pay of the staff provided by the outsourcing agencies was disbursed by the service provider through which they were engaged. The bills were produced by the service provider before the department and payment was released to it from time to time. All pending bills of the service providers, accordingly, had been cleared by the department.

Dept should insisit on proof of payment

The state’s Irrigation Dept was well advised to devise the mechanism for the payment of salary through electronic transmission. Alternatively, the dept should insist on the proof of payment made to the outsourced employee. — Justice Arun Monga, HC