The Madhya Pradesh High Court has raised concerns over the systematic victimization of lower-rung government employees by bureaucrats and senior officials. Directing the State Cabinet to examine the issue, the court noted a disturbing trend where Class-III and IV employees suffer undue hardships, while higher-ranking officers rarely face such legal battles.
A division bench comprising Justice Vivek Rusia and Justice Gajendra Singh remarked on the increasing number of cases involving salary deductions, delayed promotions, and unjust recoveries at the time of retirement. The judges questioned why these issues predominantly affect junior employees, calling on the Cabinet to intervene and put an end to their harassment.
The court also criticized the State government for failing to implement its 2018 Litigation Policy, which was designed to resolve minor disputes at the departmental level. “The policy seems to be gathering dust in government files, with no real effort to apply it,” the bench observed.
The case in question involved a retired Class-IV employee from whom the government sought to recover ₹94,056. The State challenged a single-judge ruling that quashed the recovery, but the appeal was filed after an unexplained delay of 711 days. The court refused to condone the delay, emphasizing that the employee’s entitlement was never in dispute.
The bench expressed shock at the manner in which the appeal was pursued, revealing that neither the Advocate General’s office nor the Law Department had approved it. Instead, the Chief Engineer of the Public Health Engineering Department, Bhopal, ordered the filing of the case without providing any legal justification.
“This appeal has wasted public money and the court’s time,” the judges remarked, imposing a ₹20,000 fine on the Chief Engineer responsible for the decision. The penalty is to be recovered personally from him for initiating the appeal “without examining the facts and law involved.”
With the ruling, the court has not only dismissed the appeal but has also placed the spotlight on a larger issue— the unchecked authority of bureaucrats in exerting undue pressure on lower-level employees. The ball is now in the State Cabinet’s court to address and rectify this systemic imbalance.
