Fighting like cats and dogs: HC pulls up Delhi govt, MCDs for non-payment of salaries

New Delhi, Jan 22 : The Delhi High Court has expressed its disgust over the irresponsible behaviour of Delhi Government and three municipal corporations of not paying the salaries and pensions to employees of civic bodies.
“I cannot tell how disgusted we are with all of you. You are behaving completely irresponsibly and do not care about the employees and retired pensioners,” Justice Vipin Sanghi observed orally.
The bench of Justice Sanghi and Rekha Palli came down heavily on the Arvind Kejriwal-led Government and BJP-led municipal corporations while hearing a batch of petitions relating to non-payment of salaries and pensions to municipal staff.
Employees of the municipal corporations have gone on strike in recent months over the non-payment of their salaries. Thousands of civic body staffers went on an indefinite strike on January 7, demanding that their pay and pension must be released.
The court warned that it will tell MCD employees to not come for work if they are not paid. “Let us see how your houses and hospitals are cleaned. We are ashamed of you, your leaders and the way you are behaving,” the court said.
The bench also noted that the problem has arisen as the Delhi government is sandwiched between municipal corporations and the central government. The court said that the political leaders should be mature enough.