A stenographer grade-I in the Rajasthan Financial Corporation (RFC) was arrested and had various criminal cases registered against him under Sections 420, 406, 120-B IPC and Section 10/24 of the Immigration Act, 1983 and Section 12-B of the Indian Passport Act, 1967. As a result, the employee was suspended by RFC in 2011. He was later acquitted in 2015—by the Court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Metropolitan Magistrate, Jaipur Metropolitan—following which his suspension was revoked by the RFC in June 2015.
The revocation of suspension order stated that the said employee was entitled for the last salary drawn by him for the suspension period. However, in August, RFC issued another order that denied the payment of annual grade increments and the arrears of last-drawn salary for the suspension period. The said employee filed a writ petition soon after saying this was unfair considering that he had been acquitted. He was also aware of cases in the past where employees were given financial benefits and arrears/pay difference due to them for the suspension period.
Attention was drawn to the fact that while the provision of Rule 37-A of the Rajasthan Service Rules and Rajasthan Financial Corporation (Staff Regulations), 1958 deals with the issue of suspension it does not say that the annual grade increments of the employee during the suspension period should be held back.
The single judge bench of the Rajasthan High Court comprising Justice Sudesh Bansal ruled in favour of the employee. The court directed RFC to pay the arrears of last-drawn salary to the petitioner for the suspension period—for which he was held entitled under the revocation of suspension order—within six weeks along with interest at the rate of six per cent per annum. The court also asked for the petitioner to be given notional benefits of annual grade increments during the period of suspension but that his pension be revised accordingly with payment of actual benefits.