Convene board meeting for payment of salary to employees: HC directs Delhi Waqf Board CEO
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court has directed the CEO of Delhi Waqf Board to convene a meeting of the board within one month for raising funds and clearing the outstanding salary of its employees for the last several months.
Dealing with a petition by the Delhi Waqf Board employees for payment of outstanding dues, Justice Chandra Dhari Singh also directed the board members to attend, partake and cooperate in the meeting.
The petitioner association along with an individual employee had moved the court earlier this year, claiming they had not received their salaries since October last year and were facing "unfathomable financial hardships".
"The CEO, Delhi Waqf Board is directed to convene the Meeting of the Board within one month for the purposes of raising funds and clearing the outstanding dues of the petitioners. The Members of the Board shall also attend, partake and cooperate in the said Meeting," said the court in its order dated July 11.
CEO Rehan Raza, who was present during the hearing, assured the court a meeting of the Board will be convened in the near future.
On June 1, the high court had ordered his presence before it to explain the non-payment of salaries to the employees for nearly nine months in spite of a direction by the court.
During the hearing, the chairperson of the Delhi Waqf Board submitted funds required for clearing the outstanding dues have not been raised as the meeting of the Board has not been convened.
The court was informed that the power to convene such a meeting rested with the CEO.
Advocate M Sufian Siddiqui, appearing for the petitioners, argued the CEO has not made any effort to convene the meeting and to augment funds to ensure strict compliance with earlier court orders for payment of salaries.
The court listed the matter for further hearing on August 22 and asked the Board CEO to remain present on that date.
On June 1, the high court had said the petition of the Delhi Waqf Board employees "depicts a very sorry state of affairs as admittedly the employees have not received their salaries for nearly nine months" and the authorities were "totally insensitive" to the plight of the employees who were finding it difficult to make two ends meet.
Prima facie, the court had observed, there was scant regard for court orders as despite there being an assurance, there was no certainty as to when salaries will be paid. It had deplored the "usual and casual response" that the matter was under consideration and there was a lack of funds.
On March 27, the court had directed the respondents- the city government and Delhi Waqf Board authorities- to clear the outstanding salaries of the employees within two weeks.
Siddiqui, appearing for the petitioners, had said the employees have been robbed of their right to a dignified life in a brazen infraction of their fundamental and constitutional rights.
"The employees of Delhi Waqf Board falling in Category I (Permanent employees recruited against the sanctioned post), II (Permanent employees whose recruitment is approved by the Divisional Commissioner), III (Employees who were recruited on contractual basis but are waiting for their absorption) and IV (Contractual employees who continue to be contractual) have not received their salary from October 2022," the petition has said.
It submitted that the "entire functioning of the board has collapsed" and its staff "has been in a grim situation because of unresolved issues".
"The functioning of the Delhi Waqf Board has come to a standstill as its business is to be transacted at its meetings. Staggeringly, after 05.01.2022 no meeting of the members of the Board has taken place. Hence, as a necessary corollary, the Board has not been able to meet and transact its business, as such, revenue generation of the Delhi Waqf Board has taken a blow," the petition said.
"The budget of the Delhi Waqf Board is also not prepared and forwarded to the State Government in a timely manner as required by the Waqf Act, 1995 and the Delhi Wakf Rules, 1997, which has caused inordinate delay in sending requisition for the Grant in Aid to the Delhi Government for first quarter of Financial Year 2022-2023. Furthermore, there are delays on the part of the Government of NCT of Delhi also in releasing the Grant in Aid," it has added.
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
