AP employees to get deducted salary with 12 per cent interest as High Court quashes GO

The Andhra Pradesh government led by YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had received yet another blow in the court. The High Court has already erred in the decisions of the Jagan government on several key issues. The High Court has ruled that the GOs issued by the Jagan government imposing cuts in the wages of employees in the wake of the corona are invalid. The High Court also ordered that the withheld wages be paid along with interest and directed the Jagan government to complete all the payments within two months.

Amid Coronavirus outbreak, the government of Andhra govt has announced that the state's financial situation has been badly damaged in the wake of the crisis and decided that the salary will be released with some cuts to employees during this difficult time. To this end, two GOs were released in March and April. According to these GOs, the All India Service employees had seen a cut by 60 per cent of the salaries while 50 per cent deduction in the salaries of other employees and 10 per cent of for fourth class employees. In this backdrop, retired district judge Lakshmi Kameshwari has filed a public interest litigation in the High Court. She brought to the notice of the High Court that it was illegal to impose cuts in the salaries of employees without declaring a financial emergency in the state.

The petition was heard by Justice on Tuesday. A two-judge bench comprising Justice Lalita andJustice Satyanarayana Murthy agreed with the petitioner's contention and questioned government on how could they impose cuts in the salaries of employees without declaring a financial emergency in the state. The High Court has taken the imposition of cuts in pensions along with the salaries of employees seriously and struck down the two orders issued by the Jagan government.

Acknowledging that the issues raised by the petitioner were legitimate, the court ordered that the amount of the deductions imposed on the wages of the employees should be paid together with 12 per cent interest within two months.