HC asks Gujarat govt to stop district collector's pay

Probably in first of its kind ruling on Saturday, the Gujarat High Court has asked the state government to stop the payment of the salary to Vadodara district collector Bhagyesh Jha for failing to implement High Court orders. The High Court has also directed Jha to be present before the court on May 6.

The High Court judge, Justice D N Patel, has taken note of Jha's failure in recovering dues from Vadodara-based Sonal Sales Corporation in the case filed by Gujarat Engineering and General Kamdar Union on behalf of eight workers against their employer. The High Court had earlier ordered the district collector to receover these dues.

The union had approached the Vadodara labour court to recover long-pending dues of eight workers. The local labour court awarded its decision in favour of the union.

However, in the wake of a delay in the recovery of the workers' dues, the union approached the High Court, which in turn directed Jha to recover one worker's due of Rs 2.5 lakh in 30 days.

The advocate for the union, Rajesh Mankad, had drawn attention of the High Court about the delay in implementing its order.