Punjab & Haryana High Court Orders Statutory Pay Scale to Clerk; Says Executive Instructions Cannot Override Punjab Civil Services (Revised Pay) Rules

Case Name: Rajan v. State of Punjab & Others
Date of Judgment: October 31, 2025
Citation: CWP-32111-2025
Bench: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Harpreet Singh Brar

Held: The Punjab & Haryana High Court held that executive instructions cannot override or amend statutory rules and directed the State to grant the petitioner pay and allowances as per the Punjab Civil Services (Revised Pay) Rules, 2009, as revised in 2011. Justice Harpreet Singh Brar ruled that administrative instructions, including the government letter dated 17 July 2020 applying the 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC), cannot curtail or modify statutory entitlements under the prevailing rules unless the rules themselves are amended.

Summary: The petitioner, appointed as a Clerk in the Municipal Council, Gobindgarh, on compassionate grounds, challenged the rejection of his claim for pay fixation under the Punjab Civil Services (Revised Pay) Rules, 2009 and their 2011 revision. He argued that the State wrongly applied executive instructions dated 17 July 2020 that adopted the 7th CPC matrix without amending the statutory rules. The petitioner relied on Saurabh Sharma & Ors. v. State of Punjab (CWP-15896-2023), where the Court had held that executive orders cannot supersede statutory rules.

Justice Brar reaffirmed that “administrative or executive instructions do not have the authority to amend, override, or supplement statutory rules,” emphasizing that statutory rules carry the force of law, while executive directions are merely administrative. The Court referred to multiple Supreme Court precedents, including State of U.P. v. Babu Ram Upadhyaya (AIR 1961 SC 751), B.N. Nagarajan v. State of Karnataka (AIR 1979 SC 1676), and State of Maharashtra v. Jagannath Achyut Karandikar (AIR 1989 SC 1133), underscoring the legal distinction between statutory and non-statutory instruments.

Decision: Allowing the writ petition, the Court directed the State to grant the petitioner pay and allowances strictly under the Punjab Civil Services (Revised Pay) Rules, 2009, as revised in 2011, and to release all consequential benefits and arrears within three months. The judgment reaffirmed the binding effect of statutory rules over administrative instructions and upheld the principle of rule-based governance.