The Supreme Court of India considered the case of Prakash Kumar Jena v. State of Odisha [1]in 2021. In the state of Odisha, the issue concerned the payment of Duty Call Allowance to Home Guards.
The State of Odisha was recently ordered by the Supreme Court to reevaluate its decision to compensate the Home Guards who have served under the State’s Home Department for more than 15 years only Rs 9,000 per month. This ruling was made by a panel of judges led by Justices MR Shah and BV Nagarathna while they were debating a Special Leave Petition challenging an order issued by the Odisha High Court on August 19, 2020. The Orissa High Court’s ruling was confirmed by the Supreme Court on Friday.
The attorney representing the individual Home Guards argued against the State’s current appeals by arguing that the Single Judge’s directive is entirely consistent with the Court’s ruling in the case of Grah Rakshak, Home Guards Welfare Association vs. State of Himachal Pradesh and Others[2] and the subsequent clarifying order. It was argued that the High Court’s Division Bench committed a grave error by capping the DCA benefit at Rs. 533 per day beginning in January 2020. The Court ruled that “…the State of Orissa cannot now argue that because contractual constables appointed under Rule 2013 receive a fixed lump sum payment at the beginning of their employment, the Home Guards who have served for 10 to 15 years should also be entitled to the same fixed salary.” The aforementioned position would directly conflict with the directives given by this Court in the case of Grah Rakshak (supra) and the following further clarifying order.
Whether Home Guards were eligible for Duty Call Allowance under the Odisha Home Guards (Amendment) Rules, 2003, was the case’s primary contention. The state government had claimed that only Home Guards who had put in at least 240 days of service in a year were eligible for Duty Call Allowance. The Home Guards Association, however, had argued that regardless of the number of days of service completed, all Home Guards who were summoned to duty were entitled to receive the allowance. The Court limited the benefit of DCA at Rs. 533/per day from the date of filing the writ case before the Single Judge, which would be from June 01, 2018, taking into account the possibility of a significant financial burden. “The judgment and order issued by the learned Single Judge and upheld by the Division Bench directing payment to the State’s Home Guards at a rate of Rs. 533/day are hereby affirmed. It is made clear that, starting on June 1, 2018, arrears at the rate of Rs. 533 per day must be settled. The Court ruled that the arrears must be cleared within three months of today.
The Court further explained that “…Home Guards shall be entitled to the periodic rise which may be available to the State’s police personnel, and the DCA to be paid to the Home Guards shall be periodically increased taking into consideration the minimum of the pay to which the State’s police personnel are entitled considering periodic increase from time to time.”[3]
The Supreme Court upheld the Home Guards’ entitlement to Duty Call Allowance for each day that they were summoned to duty in its ruling. In addition, the court ordered the state government to pay the stipend within three months of the judgment’s date.
Title: Payment of Duty Call up Allowance for Home Guards as Orissa HC rightly directed The effective date was modified by the Apex court: In light of Prakash Kumar Jena v State of Odisha Case title: Prakash Kumar Jena v State of Odisha,
[1] Prakash Kumar Jena v. State of Odisha; Writ Appeal No.319 of 2020
[2] Grah Rakshak, Home Guards Welfare Association vs. State of Himachal Pradesh and Others;(2015) 6 SCC 247
Name: Sarah Garima Tigga; Semester VI, Symbiosis Law school (Pune)
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