Delhi HC Seeks Clarity on Salary Disbursement for Disengaged Research Fellows

The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the city government authorities to specify when they will disburse salaries to disengaged Delhi Assembly Research Centre fellows for their prior services.

During the hearing, the counsel for the services and finance departments informed Justice Subramonium Prasad that payment has been made to other disengaged professionals.

The court scheduled the matter for further hearing on Friday and directed the lawyer to ascertain when payment would be made to the petitioners and other fellows in similar situations.

The case revolves around several fellows challenging their termination letters issued by authorities. Previously, on September 21, the court had ordered that their services continue until December 6, with stipends paid to them. However, the court later revoked the interim order at the request of the Legislative Assembly Secretariat and other authorities due to the issue being pending before the Supreme Court.

Last week, the petitioners returned to the court and requested the reinstatement of their prior directive for the continuation of their services, citing the Supreme Court’s clarification that the issue was not considered. Given the upcoming festive season, the petitioners also sought direction for salary payment for the period they served until August.

The petition argues that the fellows’ services, appointed following due procedure, were prematurely terminated in an arbitrary and illegal manner following a letter from the services department on July 5.

The letter instructed the discontinuation of the engagement of the petitioners, and salary disbursement to them was halted since prior approval from the lieutenant governor had not been obtained.

The letter was temporarily held in abeyance, with the assembly speaker informing the LG that no action would be taken without his approval. However, around the first week of August 2023, the petitioners were prevented from marking their attendance by certain departments. Subsequently, their engagement was terminated on August 9, 2023, as per the petition.