Discharging Duties Of Higher Post Doesn't Entitle Employee To Higher Pay Without Formal Appointment: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has held that an employee cannot claim the salary and emoluments of a higher post merely because she allegedly performed duties associated with that post, in the absence of a formal appointment. [2026 LiveLaw (Del) 624]A Division Bench of Justices C. Hari Shankar and Om Prakash Shukla observed, “even if a person holding a particular post is made, by her or his employer, to do the work of a higher post, that by itself does not ipso facto entitle the person to the pay of the higher post, in the absence of any formal order.”It added that the doctrine of "equal pay for equal work" cannot be invoked in such circumstances.The Court was dealing with a writ petition filed by the National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD), challenging an order of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) directing payment of the salary and other benefits of the post of Deputy Director to an employee who had served as a Research Assistant.Respondent-employee contended that during her tenure as a Research Assistant she had discharged supervisory functions equivalent to those of a Deputy Director and was therefore entitled to the pay and benefits attached to that post.Rejecting her claims, the High Court observed that service jurisprudence recognises no principle entitling a person to the pay scale of a higher post, because she, or he, was discharging the duties of the said post.“The only situations in which the law entitles a person substantively appointed to a post in a particular pay scale to a higher pay, are…where a person is formally appointed to hold charge of the duties of a higher post,” the Court clarified.In the present case however, it noted, no order had ever been issued appointing the respondent as Deputy Director or even directing her to hold charge of that post. "The principle of equal pay for equal work cannot be pressed into service to direct the person, who is substantively appointed to a particular post, in a particular pay scale, to be granted the scale of a higher post," the Court added.As such, it quashed the CAT order and directed the Respondent to refund ₹20 lakh paid to her, in ten bi-monthly instalments.Appearance: Dr. Monika Arora, CGSC with Mr. Subhradeep Saha, Ms. Anamika Thakur and Mr. Abhinav Verma, Advs. for Petitioners; Respondent in personCase title: National Institute Of Public Co-Operation & Child Development And Anr v. Tejinder KaurCitation: 2026 LiveLaw (Del) 624Case no.: W.P.(C) 2330/2014Click here to read order

Discharging Duties Of Higher Post Doesn't Entitle Employee To Higher Pay Without Formal Appointment: Delhi High Court

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Discharging Duties Of Higher Post Doesn't Entitle Employee To Higher Pay Without Formal Appointment: Delhi High Court

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