Contractual Employees Entitled to Pay Parity With Equivalent Regular Posts: Madhya Pradesh HC

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has shattered the barrier of discriminatory wage structures for contractual staff, ruling that the State cannot arbitrarily deny equivalent pay matrix levels to contractual employees when a policy for matching them with regular sanctioned posts is already in force. The Court emphasized that once a government policy mandates the classification of contractual posts with regular counterparts, departments are legally bound to apply these criteria consistently across all administrative wings to prevent constitutional violations under Constitution of India.

A single-judge bench of Justice Anand Singh Bahrawat presided over the matter, examining whether contractual Data Entry Operators could be relegated to a lower pay scale despite their regular counterparts enjoying higher remuneration levels. The Court scrutinized the administrative silence of the respondent department in justifying why a lower pay matrix was applied to the petitioners compared to similar staff in other State departments.

Key Takeaways

Mandatory Policy Compliance

State departments cannot bypass or selectively apply government policies framed for the remuneration of contractual employees once equivalent regular posts are identified.

Doctrine of Pay Parity

Contractual status does not grant the State a license to practice wage discrimination among employees performing identical duties across different departments.

Judicial Review of Committee Decisions

Mere consideration of a claim by a high-level committee is insufficient if the final decision lacks a rational basis or fails to align with the existing departmental pay structure.

Protection of Increments

Arbitrary reduction in grade pay is impermissible as it results in the stagnation of wages and denies employees the benefit of annual increments.

Court Observations and Directions

The Court noted that the petitioners had been working since 2006-2008 and their pay was previously revised in 2011 to a grade pay of Rs. 2400. It found that the State's current attempt to place them in Pay Matrix Level-4 instead of Level-6 was inconsistent with its own records and previous judicial precedents like Alok Sant and Others v. State of Madhya Pradesh and Others.

The Court, in its reasoning, observed: "The fact that the petitioners are contractual employees cannot, by itself, be a reason to ignore the policy framed by the State Government. Once the Government has prescribed a method for determining the remuneration of contractual employees with reference to the equivalent regular post, the said policy has to be applied in its proper perspective. The decision must also disclose a reasonable basis for placing the petitioners in Level-4 when the corresponding regular post of Data Entry Operator is available."

The Court has the following directions:

"34. Accordingly, the decision dated 22.07.2024, communicated vide letter dated 31.07.2024, and the consequential orders, to the extent they deny the petitioners the appropriate Pay Matrix Level, are hereby quashed.

35. The respondents are directed to reconsider and refix the remuneration of the petitioners by treating the regular post of Data Entry Operator as the equivalent regular post and by extending the benefit of Pay Matrix Level-6/Grade Pay of Rs.2400/-, in accordance with the applicable policy and rules.

36. The consequential benefit, including arrears, shall be worked out and paid to the petitioners within a period of three months from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order."

Ratio

When the State Government frames a policy for the classification of contractual posts with reference to equivalent regular posts for the purpose of fixing honorarium, it must be applied uniformly. Contractual employees performing the same duties and possessing the same qualifications as those in other departments are entitled to the same Pay Matrix Level as the corresponding regular post, and any deviation without reasonable justification violates the principle of equality under Constitution of India.

Background

The petitioners, serving as contractual Data Entry Operators in the Panchayat and Rural Development Department since 2006-2008, challenged orders that fixed their remuneration at Pay Matrix Level-4 (Rs. 25,400) instead of Level-6 (Rs. 33,100). They argued that under the State's scheme dated August 17, 2023, and a circular dated August 11, 2023, their honorarium should match the regular sanctioned post of Data Entry Operator, which carries a Grade Pay of Rs. 2400 (Level-6).

The State contested this, asserting that as contractual employees, the petitioners were bound by the terms of their contract and the decision of a three-member committee which found them eligible only for Level-4. However, the Court relied on Alok Sant and Others v. State of Madhya Pradesh and Others and the subsequent dismissal of the State's appeal in State of Madhya Pradesh v. Alok Sant, which held that reducing the grade pay of Data Entry Operators from Rs. 2400 to Rs. 1900 was irrational and arbitrary. Finding no distinction between the petitioners and those in the cited precedents, the Court allowed the writ petition.

Case Details:
Case No.: WRIT PETITION No. 11332 of 2024
Neutral Citation: 2026:MPHC-GWL:29766
Case Title: Smt. Kalpana Pachouri And Others Versus The State Of Madhya Pradesh And Others
Appearances:
For the Petitioner(s): Shri Prashant Sharma - Advocate
For the Respondent(s): Shri K.S. Tomar - Govt. Advocate

Source: 2026 CaseBase(MP) 36530