MCD commits to clearing all pending 7th pay commission dues for employees: Delhi HC informed

Will clear outstanding 7th pay commission dues of employees: MCD to Delhi HC

The MCD assured the Delhi High Court on Monday that it will clear the outstanding arrears payable to its present and former employees in terms of the seventh pay commission's recommendations.

The counsel for the civic agency told a bench headed by Acting Chief justice Manmohan that an instalment of approximately Rs 738 crore is due and payable by the Delhi government as ''basic tax assignment'' in the next few days and the amount would be used to clear the balance dues.

The lawyers added that the salaries and pensions shall be paid on time and the retiral benefits of the former employees shall also be taken care of in 12 weeks.

The court, which had earlier pulled up the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) over the delayed payments and said it would direct its dissolution if the situation did not improve, asked the city government to release the amount within 10 working days and clarified that the civic body will be bound by its assurance.

''If there is any breach of the aforesaid statement/assurance/undertaking, the petitioners shall be at liberty to file contempt proceedings against the Commissioner, MCD,'' the bench, also comprising Justice Manmeet PS Arora, stated in its order.

''This is your right. They are not doing some charity,'' the court told the petitioners, who are the present and former employees of the MCD, and listed the matter for compliance in July.

The Delhi government's lawyer said the file is being processed and urged the court to grant time till April 25 to make the payment.

The court's order came while dealing with a batch of petitions concerning the non-payment of salaries and pensions by the corporation.

On March 1, the court had pulled up the MCD over its failure to implement the seventh pay commission's recommendations and cautioned that it would direct the dissolution of the civic body if it did not make itself financially viable.

It had favoured replacing the MCD with a ''better system'' and questioned how the civic body intended to undertake development projects if it did not have money.

Noting that the present batch of cases had been pending for seven years, the court had said the MCD ''cannot hold poor people to ransom'' as the payment of their dues was not charity.

On March 28, it had said the financial condition of the MCD was ''precarious'' and the administration of the national capital required a re-look when the civic authority was incapable of handling itself.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)