The main legal point established in the judgment is the interpretation of the Circular dated 16.07.2019 and its application to part-time employees working for less than four hours, and the Court's decision to leave the issue open for examination in an appropriate case.

JUDGMENT :

SUNITA AGARWAL, J.

1. Heard Mr. Kamal Trivedi, learned Advocate General with Ms. Manisha Lavkumar Shah, learned Government Pleader assisted by learned AGPs Ms. Shruti Dhruve and Mr. Vinay Vishen for the State appellant, Mr. H.S. Munshaw, learned advocate appearing for appellants in the connected matters and Mr. Shalin Mehta, learned Senior Advocate assisted by Ms. Vidhi Bhatt, Ms. Shikha Panchal and Ms. Aditi Raol, learned advocates appearing for the private respondents-original writ petitioners.

2. These intra-court appeals are directed against the judgment and order dated 19.07.2022 passed by the learned Single Judge allowing the writ petition filed by the respondents herein, along with other connected writ petitions with the following directions:

“22. For all the aforesaid reasons as discussed hereinabove considering the categories namely 8 in number, the petitioners are held to be entitled to the benefit of Circular dated 16.7.2019 and, therefore, all these petitions are allowed and the rejections if any, on these grounds as mentioned hereinabove are quashed and set aside.”

3. At the outset, it is pertinent to note that in this bunch of appeals, the State appellant has raised an issue with regard to interpretation of the Circular dated 16.07.2019, as per the observations made in paragraph ‘17’ of the judgment impugned. For ready reference, the aforesaid paragraph ‘17’ is quoted herein-under:

“17. Reading the circular dated 16.7.2019, it is very clear that Clause 1 of the circular when read indicates that those who had worked for more than four years were being paid Rs.220/- and those who were working for less than four hours, were being paid Rs.110/-. The Circular, therefore, cannot be read in a restricted manner to suggest that it cannot be made applicable to those who were appointed for less than four hours. That submission would even be against the policy of giving a minimum wage to the workmen.”

4. Shri Kamal Trivedi, learned Advocate General would submit that the challenge to the decision of the learned Single Judge is confined to the observation made in paragraph ‘17’ extracted above, wherein Clause 1 of the Circular has been read in a manner that all part-timers, even those who were/are working for less than four hours, have to be provided minimum wages as admissible to a part-timer working for more than four hours. The submission is that the interpretation given by the learned Single Judge to the Circular dated 16.07.2019 that it covers both categories, i.e. those working for four hours and those working for less than four hours and that there was no distinction between the two categories as the circular is applicable to all part-timers, is contrary to the record.

5. The Circular dated 16.07.2019 has been placed before us to submit that the said circular was issued by the State Government in order to implement the judgment and order dated 09.05.2019 rendered in Letters Patent Appeal No. 1155 of 2019, arising out of Special Civil Application No. 7462 of 2012.

6. It was argued that the previous circular of the concerned Finance Department dated 06.09.2014 provided two categories of part-time employees. For the first category of the part-time employees working for more than four hours, it was decided that they will be paid Rs.220/- per day, whereas those working upto four hours, Rs.110/- per day was the wages fixed, apart from Special Allowances as may be determined on the said wages/remuneration. In Special Civil Application No. 7462 of 2012 tagged along with other 65 Special Civil Applications, vide judgment and order dated 21.12.2018, a single Bench of this Court had directed that the part-timers therein were to be paid minimum of the pay-scale from 01.01.2019, payable to Class-IV employees of the State Government and if any part-time employees have been relieved from duty in terms of the Finance Department’s Resolution dated 25.04.2012, they shall be reinstated and be paid salary from 01.01.2019, provided they h