MP High Court Scraps Reduced Salary Rule

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has struck down provisions that allowed government employees to be paid reduced salaries during their probation period.

The court's principal bench at Jabalpur, comprising Acting Chief Justice Vivek Rusia and Justice Pradeep Mittal, made this ruling on Tuesday.

The ruling applies to employees appointed after November 25, 2019, and states that they must be paid their full salary for work performed during probation.

The court set aside rules and circulars that provided for 70%, 80%, and 90% of the minimum pay scale in the first, second, and third years of probation, respectively.

The High Court observed that employees selected through the prescribed recruitment process perform the same duties as regular employees during probation.

Paying reduced salaries despite extracting 100% work was therefore unjustified and discriminatory towards Class III and Class IV employees.

The court clarified that employees are entitled to the salary prescribed under recruitment rules and that it cannot be reduced or recovered without valid justification.

This ruling is a significant development for government employees in Madhya Pradesh, who will now be entitled to full pay during their probation period.

The court's decision is based on the principle of equal pay for equal work, and it aims to prevent discrimination against employees on probation.

The Madhya Pradesh government will need to review its policies and ensure that employees are paid their full salary during probation, as per the court's ruling.

This decision may have implications for other states as well, as it sets a precedent for the payment of salaries to government employees on probation.

The court's ruling is a victory for government employees in Madhya Pradesh, who will now be treated equally and paid fairly for their work.