MCD councillors, officers living like lords while Covid-19 workers don’t get pay: HC
New Delhi, Jan. 15: The Delhi high court, on Friday, said that it intends to stop all non-essential, discretionary expenses of the three municipal corporations here, including the perks of councillors and senior officers “living like lords,” so that salaries and pensions of Covid-19 front line workers—doctors, nurses, and sanitation staff — can be paid.
A bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli said that during the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic, the payment of salaries of health workers, including doctors, nursing staff, and sanitation staff—who are at the frontlines—should be prioritised over other discretionary expenses like perks of senior officers.
◗ THE COURT said it intends to stop all the non-essential or discretionary expenses of the three corporations and perks of senior officers so that the money can be used to pay salaries and pensions of frontline workers during the prevailing pandemic
The court said it intends to stop all the non-essential or discretionary expenses of the three corporations and perks of senior officers so that the money can be used to pay salaries and pensions of frontline workers during the prevailing pandemic.
The court further said that “paucity of funds cannot be an excuse for non-payment of salaries and pensions” as these are fundamental rights under the Constitution since they have a bearing on the life and quality of the life of the persons entitled to them and the dependents of such individuals.
The bench also expressed its disapproval over Delhi government’s decision to deduct from the amounts transferred to the corporations the loans given to them, saying even the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had imposed a moratorium on recall of loans and declaration of accounts as NPA by banks and financial institutions.
Delhi government additional standing counsel Satyakam urged the court to give him time to take instructions on why the deductions were justified.
The court also asked the Delhi government to explain why funds payable to the corporations under the heads of transfer duty and parking charges have not been released to them when the same would be paid.
The court was hearing several PILs claiming nonpayment of salaries and pensions of serving and retired employees, including teachers, doctors, and sanitation workers, of the three corporations.
During the hearing, the court said it intends to direct the Delhi government to transfer the funds under the basic tax assignment (BTA) without any deduction of loan amounts.