In Brief
Part-time government employees of Himachal Pradesh who completed ten years of service sought conversion to daily wage status with back-pay and consequential benefits. The State's 2004 policy provided for conversion to daily wage status with seniority counting from ten-year completion but explicitly without past financial benefits. The High Court ordered payment of monetary benefits from 2007 onward. The Supreme Court held that the State's consistent policy—seniority from ten-year completion, but wages only from actual daily wage appointment—must be respected. Courts cannot order financial benefits that contradict an expressly stated policy condition. The appeal was allowed and the High Court's direction for back-pay was set aside.
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