- (1.) HEARD counsel for the parties.
(2.) THESE writ petitioners had earlier approached this Court in WPS No. 1041/2012 with a prayer to direct the respondents to grant them minimum scale of pay for the period they had worked as daily wage employees under the respondent department before their services were regularized. These twelve writ petitioners are said to be the employees working on daily wages for different periods when they were engaged in 1980s under the Minor Irrigation Department, as per detail chart given at para -11 of the writ petition. Their services have been regularized by the department in the month of March 2011. In the aforesaid background, being guided by the judgment rendered by this Court in the case of Nand Kishore Rai vs. State of Jharkhand & others [WP(S) No. 700/2009], the writ petitioners had approached this Court as aforesaid. The writ petition was however disposed of by directing the respondent authorities to take an appropriate decision in the matter while appreciating the judgment delivered by this Court in WPS No. 700/2009. The petitioners' representation has been rejected by the impugned order at annexure -12 dated 17 th July 2012 passed by the Principal Secretary, Water Resources Department, Government of Jharkhand.
(3.) COUNSEL for the petitioners submits that the prayer has been rejected on the ground that the respondent State had chosen to assail the judgment rendered in WPS No. 700/2009 in letters patent appeal. Apart from that, a plea was taken that these persons have been paid their daily wages for the relevant periods in which they had earlier worked. Counsel for the petitioners submits that the letters patent appeal being LPA No. 130/2012 preferred by the State against the said judgment in the case of Nand Kishore Rai (Supra) has been dismissed by order dated 05th July 2012.;