Disposed¶19

Monika v. State of Haryana and Others

Punjab & Haryana HC12 May 2025CWP/8918/2025

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Maternity leave salary arrears; delayed release of lawful salary dues; interest on delayed salary; writ of mandamus; nine per cent per annum interest; ₹6,25,856; Director, Higher Education, Haryana; recovery of interest from erring officer/official; four-week compliance; Punjab and Haryana High Court at Chandigarh; CWP-8918-2025; decided 12.05.2025; Tribhuvan Dahiya J.

What did the court decide?

Petition disposed of with direction to respondents to pay interest at nine per cent per annum on the due salary of ₹6,25,856 from the date of entitlement till actual payment (07.05.2025), within four weeks; Department at liberty to recover the interest from the erring officer/official. ¶19

Monika Vs State of Haryana and Others — Punjab & Haryana HC (2025) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

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Issue for consideration

Whether the petitioner was entitled to payment of full salary for the maternity leave sanctioned from 01.01.2020 to 10.07.2020 and for the period 11.07.2020 to 31.03.2021, along with interest. +1 more

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Ratio / Principle

On account of the lapse, the petitioner's rightful dues/salary could not have been delayed.

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Key takeaways

As no reason was cited for the delay in releasing the salary lawfully due, the petitioner is entitled to interest on the due amount.ratio¶14
Respondents directed to pay interest at nine per cent per annum to the petitioner on the due salary (₹6,25,856) for the aforesaid period, from the date of entitlement till actual payment, i.e., 07.05.2025.ratio¶19
The Department is at liberty to recover the amount of interest from the erring officer and/or official, as the case may be.

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Writ petition (CWP-8918-2025) by Monika seeking a writ of mandamus for payment of full salary for maternity leave sanctioned from 01.01.2020 to 10.07.2020 and for the period 11.07.2020 to 31.03.2021, with interest. After an order dated 28.04.2025 of this Court, the due salary (₹6,25,856) was released on 07.05.2025, as conveyed vide memo dated 09.05.2025 of the second respondent/Director, Higher Education; the State offered no justification for the delay. Held (Tribhuvan Dahiya J., oral): the petitioner's rightful dues could not have been delayed on account of the lapse, and she is entitled to interest. Petition disposed of with a direction to pay interest at nine per cent per annum on the due salary from the date of entitlement till actual payment (07.05.2025); the Department was permitted to recover the interest from the erring officer/official; compliance within four weeks.

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CWP-8918-2025

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH

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125 CWP-8918-2025 Decided On: 12.05.2025

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MONIKA

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....PETITIONER(s)

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Versus

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STATE OF HARYANA AND OTHERS

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....RESPONDENT(s)

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CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE TRIBHUVAN DAHIYA Present: M r. Parveen Moudgil, Advocate f or the petitioner.

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M s. Tanushree Gupta, Deputy A d vocate General, Haryana.

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TRIBHUVAN DAHIYA J.(Oral)

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The petition has been filed seeki n g a writ of mandamus directin g the responden t s to pay full salary for matern i ty leave, which was sanctione d from 01.01.2020 to 10.07.2020, and th e salary from 11.07.2020 t o 31.03.2021, along with interest.

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Learned counsel for the petitione r contends that after availing th e maternity lea v e, the petitioner re-joined ser v ice on 11.07.2020 but was no t released the d ue salary till 31.03.2021. Rep r esentations claiming the sam e remained una n swered. However, after passin g of the order, dated 28.04.2025 , by this Court, salary for the aforementioned p eriod has been released to her . No reason ha s been cited for the delay in rel e asing the salary lawfully due t o the petitioner; therefore, she is entitled to interest on the due amount. 3. Learned State counsel, on instru c tions received from the secon d respondent/Di r ector, Higher Education, v i de memo dated 09.05.2025 , contends that due salary has been released to the petitioner on 07.05.2025 . She, however, is not in a position to give any justification for the delay. It is ,

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Aman Dua 2025.05.14 18:00 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this judicial document

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CWP-8918-2025

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however, contended that the Department will enquire into the matter and tak e appropriate ac t ion against the erring officer/o ff icial.

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B e that as it may, on account of t h is lapse the petitioner’s rightfu l dues/salary co u ld not have been delayed. 5. I n view thereof, the petition is di s posed of with a direction to th e respondents t o pay interest at the rate of n i ne per cent per annum to th e petitioner on the due salary for the afo r ementioned period amountin g ₹6,25,856 fro m the date of entitlement till a c tual payment, i.e., 07.05.2025 . The Departm e nt will be at liberty to recover the amount of interest from th e erring officer a nd/or official, as the case may b e. The direction shall be carrie d out within fou r weeks from today.

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12.05.2025 Ad

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( TRIBHUVAN DAHIYA) JUDGE

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Whether speaking/reasoned? Yes/No Whether reportable? Yes/No

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Aman Dua 2025.05.14 18:00 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this judicial document

Monika v. State of Haryana and Others

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Monika v. State of Haryana and Others

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Why is it important?

What the court decided

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Procedural history

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