Jaipur: The Rajasthan High Court has ordered the agriculture department to pay regular monthly salary and service benefits, along with 6% interest since 2018, to an assistant engineer who became paralysed following a brain hemorrhage in 2017.In a broader directive, the court instructed the state’s chief secretary to issue orders to all govt departments to identify similarly disabled employees and provide them benefits under Section 20(4) of the Rights of the Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.Justice Mahender Kumar Goyal’s single bench issued the orders on July 9 while disposing of a petition filed by Sunil Kumar Gupta. The order copy was uploaded online Saturday.“The petitioner was appointed as a junior engineer in the agriculture department in 1994 and was promoted as an assistant engineer. On Nov 16, 2017, he suffered a brain haemorrhage resulting in paralysis on the right side of his body. Since then, he is bedridden. His salary was stopped from April 12, 2018, to June 30, 2018, and from Jan 19 till date,” said CP Sharma, counsel for the petitioner.Sharma said the petitioner approached the high court in 2021, where it was said that despite the availability of protection under the Act of 2016, the state govt did not pay salary and other benefits to him. “Since the petitioner got a disability during his service, he is entitled to get salary and other benefits till his superannuation as per the Act,” Sharma argued in court.After hearing the arguments, Justice Goyal asked the authorities to release the petitioner’s salary and other benefits on a monthly basis with an interest of 6% since it was stopped. The court also directed the authorities to comply with its directions in four weeks after receiving the order copy and stated that if they fail, they will have to pay the same benefits with an interest of 9%. A compliance hearing is scheduled for Sept 11.
Release salary, benefits to paralysed engineer from 2018: HC to govt | Jaipur News
