Jammu: In a significant ruling, the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has held that an employee who remains in judicial custody as an under-trial in a criminal case is not entitled to salary or allowances for the duration of incarceration, even if later acquitted.
Justice M.A. Chowdhary passed the judgment while dismissing a petition filed by Sher Singh, who had sought a direction to NHPC to treat his jail period as active service and release full pay and allowances for that time.
Sher Singh, a Beldar (Spl) with NHPC’s Pakal Dul Hydroelectric Project, was arrested in connection with FIR No. 55/2009 for murder and remained in custody from April 2009 to October 2010, before being acquitted by the Sessions Court, Reasi. Post-release, he was reinstated by NHPC, and the period of custody was treated as “on duty” for service continuity. However, no salary was paid for the period he was under trial, which Singh challenged in court.
Justice Chowdhary observed that since the employer played no role in his arrest or prosecution, there is no obligation to pay wages for the period of custody. Citing Supreme Court precedents, the Court stated that mere acquittal does not entitle an under-trial to back wages if the absence from duty was not due to employer action.
“The law obliges an under-trial to remain out of service during custody. Since the petitioner did not perform any work during his 1.5 years in jail, he is not entitled to any salary or allowances for that period,” the Court ruled.
The Court also clarified that had the incarceration been the result of a departmental inquiry or employer-driven action, the situation would have been different.
While the petitioner’s counsel urged for release of pensionary benefits post-retirement, the Court declined to pass any direction, noting that such a plea was not part of the original petition. However, it granted liberty to the petitioner to submit a representation to NHPC for release of his terminal benefits, with the option to pursue legal remedies if denied.
With these observations, the petition was dismissed.
