SHILLONG: Senior advocate SP Mahanta, during the hearing of the pending PIL on coronavirus issue, raised the issue of deferment of salary of the government employees.
Mahanta submitted that an additional affidavit has been filed online on May 4, bringing to the notice of the court regarding the office memorandum of April 28 wherein it has been stipulated that there shall be a deferment in the payment of a small portion of the salary for the months of April to August. He asserted that the measure is unwarranted and that similar action which has been taken by the Government of Kerala has since been stayed by the Kerala High Court.
Advocate General took exception to the additional affidavit filed by the petitioner and submitted that the same is beyond the scope of the PIL and wanted the court not to take cognisance of the same as the matter can only be raised by the affected persons that is, the government employees.
The court agreed with the submissions of the Advocate General that the deferment of salary falls outside the scope of the PIL and the same can be entertained if brought by the affected persons.
