Court News

```Kerala HC refuses to stay salary ordinance

‘Court can’t question wisdom of govt.’

06/05/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT ,KOCHI

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday declined to stay the ordinance empowering the State government to defer payment of salary of government employees and other government institutions for six days for five months in view of the COVID-19 crisis.

Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas, while refusing the plea for a stay made by counsel for various service organisations, observed that the court could not question the wisdom of the government in bringing the ordinance which did not appropriate the salary but only deferred payment.

The court also found that the ordinance was enacted under the legislative competence of the government. It was promulgated as the State was reeling under a very difficult situation. The court could not interfere with the ordinance at this stage.

The court said the exclusion of health workers from the ordinance was a matter for the government to consider and take a decision. Merely because the health workers were not exempted from the ordinance was not a ground to issue a stay order.

According to the service organisations, including the Kerala NGO Association, the Kerala Disaster and Public Health Emergency (Special Provisions) Ordinance, which makes for deferment of pay of employees of the government and its institutions in part in the event of disaster and public health emergency in the State was illegal.

Advocate General C.P. Sudhakara Prasad argued that the government had the legislative competence to promulgate the ordinance. In fact, the government did not deduct or reduce the salary and it only deferred payment of salary.```