The Excise Department gave an advertisement in the newspaper for certain vacancies of subordinate staff under the signature of Bhuwan. In the advertisement it was clearly mentioned that such staff will be paid the daily

CS Professional · Labour Laws and Practice · PYQS · December 2024
The Excise Department gave an advertisement in the newspaper for certain vacancies of subordinate staff under the signature of Bhuwan. In the advertisement it was clearly mentioned that such staff will be paid the daily wages only. After some time, the newly recruited subordinate staff in Excise Deptt. started demanding for the equal salary as are being paid to other employees of the same class and when their demand was not accepted by the management, they collectively filed a suit against the department. In the court, the management argued that the new employees accepted the employment with full knowledge that they will be paid on daily wages only and nothing else, hence the department is not liable to accept their demand. Based on the given facts, answer the following questions: Whether equality of opportunity in matters of public employment is a fundamental right or is a directive principle ? Discuss.

Answer & Explanation:

Article 16 assures equality of opportunity in matters of public employment and prevents the State from any sort of discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them. This Article also provides the autonomy to the State to grant special provisions for the backward classes, under-represented States, SC & ST for posts under the State. Local candidates may also be given preference is certain posts. The equality of opportunity in matters of public employment is a fundamental right enshrined in Part III of the Constitution that has been provided under Article 16 of the Constitution of India, which reads as under: There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State. No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence, or any of them, be ineligible for, or discriminated against in respect of, any employment or office under the State. Nothing in this article shall prevent Parliament from making any law prescribing, in regard to a class or classes of employment or appointment to an office under the Government of, or any local or other authority within, a State or Union territory, any requirement as to residence within that State or Union territory prior to such employment or appointment. Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State. Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any provision for reservation in matters of promotion, with consequential seniority, to any class or classes of posts in the services under the State in favour of the scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes which, in the opinion of the State, are not adequately represented in the services under the State. Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from considering any unfilled vacancies of a year which are reserved for being filled up in that year in accordance with any provision for reservation made under clause (4) or clause (4A) as a separate class of vacancies to be filled up in any succeeding year or years and such class of vacancies shall not be considered together with the vacancies of the year in which they are being filled up for determining the ceiling of fifty per cent, reservation on total number of vacancies of that year. Nothing in this article shall affect the operation of any law which provides that the incumbent of an office in connection with the affairs of any religious or denominational institution or any member of the governing body thereof shall be a person professing a particular religion or belonging to a particular denomination. Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any economically weaker sections of citizens other than the classes mentioned in clause (4), in addition to the existing reservation and subject to a maximum of ten per cent. of the posts in each category.

Topics: Constitutional Provisions

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