From Our Special Correspondent
GUWAHATI: The Gauhati High Court has sought a response from the Centre regarding disbursal of pending salaries and wages to the employees of two mills of Hindustan Paper Corporation Ltd (HPCL) in Assam.
The hearing in this regard has been fixed on February 24, 2020. “On the next date fixed, the respondent, Union of India shall apprise the court as to when it’s going to disburse the due arrear salary and wages to the employees of the HPCL as per their entitlement,” the court order stated.
It stated that the Parliament of India in its Supplementary Demands for Grants 2018-19 (July, 2018) under the Union ministry of heavy industries and public enterprises sanctioned Rs 90 crore for meeting additional requirement of HPCL for payment of salary/wages and other statutory dues of its employees, which was assented by the President of India on August 24, 2018. The HPC is a fully-owned company of the government of India.
“Unless there is an order from the Court of Law, just in the mere initiation of a proceeding, disbursal of a grant, statutorily sanctioned by the government of India, in terms of the decision of the Parliament of the country and assented to by the President of India, cannot be stayed, more particularly when the decision of the Parliament and the assent of the President were after said initiation of the proceeding,” the High Court order stated.
It further stated that the government of India did not issue any notification staying the grant after publishing about it in the Gazette of India on August 25, 2018, as published by Ministry of Law and Justice.
Production in Cachar Paper Mill has been suspended since October 20, 2015, while operations at Nagaon Paper Mill at Jagiroad came to a halt on March 13, 2017. Employees have not been paid salaries and other pending dues for over 36 months now.
It may be mentioned that the Delhi High Court had in its order earlier this month considered the difficulties faced by the workers of the mills owing to non-payment of salary/statutory dues for over 36 months now and stated that the plight of the workers needed immediate amelioration even as the residential quarter vacation notice has been put in abeyance till the next date of hearing.