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United News of India
15 hours ago
- Politics
- United News of India
HP High Court Raps HPU for withholding Associate Professor's Salary
Shimla, Jun 21 (UNI) The Himachal Pradesh High Court has pulled up Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) for withholding the salary of an Associate Professor for over two years, despite his promotion under the University Grants Commission (UGC) Career Advancement Scheme (CAS). Justice Sandeep Sharma, while allowing a civil writ petition filed by Dr. Bhawani Singh, directed HPU to release the pending salary within six weeks. Dr. Singh, appointed as an Assistant Professor in 2016 in the Department of Hindi, was promoted to Associate Professor on September 9, 2022, under UGC norms. The promotion was approved by the university's Executive Council through an office order dated July 4, 2023. However, HPU withheld the salary, citing lack of approval from the state government. The court noted that Dr. Singh was working in the higher post but denied its pay scale. 'The petitioner, who admittedly at present is working against the higher post, is being denied salary of the higher post,' the order stated, terming the university's conduct as 'bad in law' and 'unjustified.' HPU's repeated attempts to seek approval from the Finance Department were blocked, as the department claimed that the Assured Career Progression (ACP) Scheme ceased with the introduction of the Himachal Pradesh Civil Services (Revised Pay) Rules, 2022. However, the court rejected this reasoning, asserting that UGC regulations, having statutory force, must prevail over state policies in such matters. Citing Supreme Court rulings in Gambhirdan K. Gadhvi v. State of Gujarat and Prof. (Dr.) Sreejith P.S v. Dr. Rajshree M.S, the court emphasized that UGC norms are binding on state universities. 'UGC Regulations should become part of the statute framed by Parliament and, therefore, shall prevail,' Justice Sharma said. The court ruled that state government approval was not a precondition for releasing the salary. Failure to comply with the order within six weeks will entitle Dr. Singh to interest at 6% per annum on the delayed payment. Senior Advocate Sanjeev Bhushan, assisted by L.S. Mehta, represented the petitioner, while Advocate General Anup Rattan and his team appeared for the state and HPU. UNI ML RKM
Time of India
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
75 senior police inspectors decline promotion across Maharashtra, cite personal reasons
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Seventy-five senior police inspectors across Maharashtra have turned down promotion offers to become assistant commissioners or deputy superintendents of police this year, stated a communication sent by additional director general of police (Establishment) Dr Sukhwinder Singh to the unit commanders across the state. Of these officers, the highest number (24) is from Mumbai city, followed by nine each from Pune city and Thane city, six from Navi Mumbai, four from ACB, three each from Pimpri Chinchwad and CID Pune, two each from BDDS Pune city, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar city, Solapur city and one each from Nashik city, Nashik rural, Raigad, Pune rural, state intelligence department, Ahilyanagar, Jalgaon, Solapur rural, Sangli, Sambhajinagar rural and Mira-Bhayandar-Vasai-Virar. According to senior officials familiar with service trends, while the exact reasons for the refusals are not specified, such decisions are often attributed to personal, administrative or location-related considerations. The decision to reject promotion may have career implications for the concerned officers. A govt resolution (GR) issued on Sept 12, 2016, clearly outlines the consequences of declining a promotion. As per the GR, officers who turn down promotion are to be excluded from the next two departmental promotion lists. Their eligibility can only be reconsidered in the third cycle, subject to departmental scrutiny. In cases, where an officer refuses promotion more than once, the penalties escalate. A second refusal leads to another cycle of exclusion from two subsequent lists. For those declining promotion permanently, they are barred from any future consideration altogether. The GR also directed that such refusals be officially recorded and acted upon, ensuring vacancies caused by declined promotions were promptly filled as per seniority and eligibility from the pool of remaining officers. Benefits availed under schemes like the Assured Career Progression (ACP) are also subject to review and possible withdrawal if an officer declined promotion, as per the GR provisions. A senior home department official confirmed that the list of 75 officers was being processed in accordance with the standing orders. "The refusal is within the rights of the officers, but there are clear administrative consequences laid out in the GR. Those will be implemented to ensure uniformity and fairness in promotions," the official said. This is not the first time a large group of officers declined promotion. The growing frequency of such decisions in recent years has, however, prompted discussions within administrative circles suggesting a mechanism to differentiate genuine reasons from the non-genuine ones.
