Sri Rajappa v. The State of Karnataka

IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU DATED THIS THE 27TH DAY OF APRIL, 2026 BEFORE THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE S.R.KRISHNA KUMAR WRIT PETITION NO. 13557 OF 2026 (S-RES) BETWEEN:

¶1SRI. RAJAPPA S/O. GOVINDAPPA, AGED ABOUT 57 YEARS PRESENTLY WORKING AS FOREST WATCHER 'D' GROUP, RANGE FOREST OFFICE, KAGGALIPURA RANGE BENGALURU SOUTH SUB-DIVISION, BENGALURU - 560 082.

¶2SRI. GALAPPA, S/O. SIDDALINGAIAH, AGED ABOUT 47 YEARS PRESENTLY WORKING AS FOREST WATCHER 'D' GROUP RANGE FOREST OFFICE, KAGGALIPURA RANGE BENGALURU SOUTH SUB-DIVISION, BENGALURU - 560 082.

¶3SRI. JAYARAMAIAH, S/O. CHIKKARAMAIAH, AGED ABOUT 51 YEARS PRESENTLY WORKING AS FOREST WATCHER 'D' GROUP RANGE FOREST OFFICE, KAGGALIPURA RANGE BENGALURU SOUTH SUB-DIVISION, BENGALURU - 560 082. …PETITIONERS by SHARADAVANI B Location: High Court of Karnataka e -e2e-eeeee e e NC:(2026:KHC:23452 WP(No.(13557(of(2026 (BYeSRI.eBASAVARAJAePATELeG.K,eADVOCATE)e AND:

1.e THEeSTATEeOieKARNATAKAe REP.eBYeITSePRINCIPALeSECRETARY,ee DEPARTMENTeOieiOREST,ee ECOLOGYeANDeENVIRONMENTee M.S.eBUILDING,eBENGALURUe-e560e001.e

2.e THEePRINCIPALeCHIEieCONSERVATORee OieiORESTS,e(HEADeOieTHEeiORESTeiORCE)eARANYAe BHAVANA,e3RDeiLOOR,ee 18THeCROSS,eMALLESHWARAM,ee BENGALURUe-e560e003.e

3.e THEeCONSERVATOReOieiORESTS.e JARAKABANDI,eYALAHANKA,ee BENGALURUe-e560e091.e

4.e THEeDEPUTYeCONSERVATOReOieiORESTSe BENGALURUeURBANeDIVISION,eKAMMAGONDANAHALLI,ee BENGALURUe-e560e015.e

5.e THEeRANGEeiORESTeOiiICER,e KAGGALIPURAeRANGEee BENGALURUeSOUTHeSUB-DIVISION,ee BENGALURUe-5600116.e …RESPONDENTSe (BYeSRI.eSPOORTHYeHEGDE,eAGAeiOReR1eTOeR5)e e THISe W.P.e ISe iILEDe UNDERe ARTICLESe 226e ANDe 227e Oie THEe CONSTITUTIONe Oie INDIAe PRAYINGe TOe 1.e CALLe iORe THEe RECORDSe RELATINGe TOe THEe IMPUGNEDe COMMONe ENDORSEMENTe ORDERe BEARINGe NO.A3.SIBBANDI.CR-11/2025-26e DATEDe 12.08.2025e VIDEe ANNEXURE-H,e PASSEDe BYe THEe RESPONDENTe NO.4,e PERUSEe ANDe QUASHe THEe SAMEe ASe ARBITRARY,e ILLEGALe ANDe VIOLATIVEe Oie ARTICLESe14eANDe16(1)eOieTHEeCONSTITUTIONeOieINDIAeANDeETC.,e

THIS PETITION, COMING ON FOR PRELIMINARY HEARING, THIS DAY, ORDER WAS MADE THEREIN AS UNDER: CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE S.R.KRISHNA KUMAR ORAL ORDER In this petition petitioners seeks the following reliefs. " i. Call for the records relating to the impugned common endorsement order bearing No.A3.Sibbandi.CR-11/2025-26 Dated 12.08.2025 vide Annexure-H, passed by the Respondent No.4, peruse and quash the same as arbitrary, illegal and violative of Articles 14 and 16(1) of the constitution of India. ii. Issue a writ in the nature of mandamus to consider the claim of the Petitioners for the service benefits in terms of the Karnataka Daily Wage Employees Welfare Act 2012 vide Annexure-D, by holding them eligible for the benefits under the said Act for the long services rendered by the Petitioners with all monetary benefits; iii. Pass such other orders or direction as this Hon'ble Court may be deemed fit in the circumstances of the case, in the interest of justice and equity. "

¶2Heard Sri. Basavaraja Patel G.K., learned counsel for the petitioners, Smt. Spoorthy Hegde, learned AGA for respondent Nos.1 to 5 and perused the material on record.

¶3A perusal of the material on record would indicate that during the period 1994, the petitioners were appointed as Forest Watchers in the respondents' department and have been working in various places for around 30 years as per Annexure A. By Government orders dated 11.06.2009 and 31.07.2012, the State Government enhanced the daily wages payable to the petitioner by Rs.1,000/-. But the said benefits were granted in favour of the petitioners only up to 2017 and not thereafter. Meanwhile, on 15.02.2013, the State Government enacted the Karnataka Daily Wages Employees' Welfare Act, 2012 extending the benefits of Regular Government Servant to Daily Wage's Appoint Employees also. Under these circumstances, several similarly situated daily wages were notified by the State Government in the year 2014, subsequent to which, the petitioners as well as other persons submitted several representations before the State Government seeking extension of enhanced wages in their favour also.

¶4Being aggrieved by the non consideration of their grievances, the petitioners filed WP No.5775/2025 along with others and connected matters, which was disposed of by this Court vide Order

at Annexure - G dated 19.03.2025. The said order passed by this Court vide Annexure G reads as under: " ORAL ORDER

The petitioners have sought for a writ in the nature of mandamus to consider their claim under the Karnataka Daily Wage Employees Welfare Act, 2012 (Annexure-D) and to direct the respondents to pay monthly payment of Rs.1,000/- from 2009 and Rs.2,000/- from 2012 as per the Government Orders dated 11.06.2009 and 31.07.2012 vide Annexure B and C passed by the 3rd respondent-Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR).

¶2The petitioners contend that they are all daily wage employees working on casual basis in the Department of Forest in various ranges. All of them have completed ten years of service as on 10.04.2006. They all contend that the State Government had decided to engage labourers through private contractors, even though there is a prohibition in law that such labourers should not be exploited either by the department or by the contractors. They contend that the respondents have allowed exploitation of labour by enrolling the petitioners and not giving them the pay equivalent to that of a regular employee. They contend that the State Government by order dated 11.06.2009 and 31.07.2012 had enhanced the daily wages by Rs.1,000/- and Rs.2,000/- but the respondents have not granted the same in so far as the petitioners are concerned.

¶3They also contend that they are discriminated vis a vis other employees who were similarly placed and they are not granted the benefits that are given to other labourers under the Karnataka Daily Wage Employees Welfare Act, 2012. They also contend that they have made several representations before respondent No.2 to extend the benefits under the Karnataka Daily Wage Employees Welfare Act, 2012 and for not enhancing the wage as per the orders of the State Government. However, the respondents have neither considered their requests nor enhanced the daily wages payable as per the orders of the State Government. Hence, the petitioners are before this Court seeking for directions to the respondents to grant the benefits under Karnataka Daily Wage Employees Welfare Act, 2012 and also to direct the respondents to pay monthly payment of Rs.1,000/- from the year 2009 and Rs.2,000/- from the year 2012 as per the Government Order dated

11.06.2009 and 31.07.2012.

¶4Learned counsel for the petitioners contends that Co-ordinate Bench of this Court in W.P.No.29873/2024 and other connected petitions had directed the respondents to consider the representations of similarly placed persons. Therefore, he prays that this writ petition may also be disposed of on the same terms.

¶5Learned AGA for respondents submitted that the facts on hand is distinguishable from the facts in W.P.No.29873/2024 and other connected writ petitions. He contends that in the latter case, there were communications addressed by the concerned officers to the authorities for

extension of the benefits payable under Karnataka Daily Wage Employees Welfare Act, 2012, while in the present case there is no such communication.

¶6I have considered the submissions made by the learned counsel for the petitioners and the learned AGA for respondents.

¶7The petitioners have all joined the services of the respondents between 1984 to 1996. It is not the case of the respondents that there is break in the service rendered by the petitioners. If the petitioners continue to serve the respondents, they are entitled to the benefits payable under the Karnataka Daily Wage Employees Welfare Act, 2012. Similarly, the State Government had issued an order dated

11.06.2009 and 31.07.2012 enhancing the daily wages by Rs.1,000/- and Rs.2,000/- respectively. Therefore, the petitioners are entitled to the benefit of the said enhanced wages. The petitioners have all contended that they have submitted representations requesting the respondents to extend the benefits under the Karnataka Daily Wage Employees Welfare Act, 2012 and to pay the enhanced wages. If that be the case, the respondents have to consider the requests of the petitioners and dispose of the representations in accordance with law.

¶8In that view of the matter, the writ petition is disposed of directing the petitioners to file appropriate representations before the respondents along with copy of this order claiming the benefits under the Act of 2012 as well as the enhanced wages under the Government orders referred above within one month from today. The concerned

respondents shall consider the claims of the respective petitioners within a period of 3 months from the date of receipt of copy of this order and pass appropriate orders. In order to ensure compliance of the above, list this petition on

01.08.2025."

¶5It is the grievance of the petitioners that despite the aforesaid order passed by this Court, which had attained finality and become conclusive and binding upon the respondents and filing of contempt proceedings in CCC No.1240/2025, respondent No.5 issued common endorsement dated 12.08.2025 to the effect that the petitioners' services cannot be considered under the Karnataka Daily Wages Employees' Welfare Act, 2012, since the notification under the said Act had to be issued within one year from the date of commencement of the said Act, which came into force on 15.02.2013 and the said notification not having been issued to the petitioners within the aforesaid period of one year, the petitioners would not be entitled to the benefits under the said Act.

¶6Aggrieved by the impugned endorsement, the petitioners are before this Court, inter alia contending that in relation to identically /similarly situated Daily Wage Employees, the State Government has extended the benefits even after the lapse of more than one year and

on the ground of parity, the impugned endorsement deserves to be quashed and the petitioners would be entitled to similar benefit. It is also submitted that having regard to the fact that aforesaid Karnataka Daily Wages Employees' Welfare Act, 2012 is a welfare piece of legislation and has been enacted with the intention of extending the benefit to Daily Wage Employees, the inaction on the part of the State Government to issue a notification extending the benefit to the petitioners could not have been made the basis to issue the impugned endorsements dated 12.08.2025 vide Annexures H, which deserve to be quashed.

¶7Per contra, learned AGA submits that there is no merit in the petition and the same is liable to be dismissed.

¶8I have given anxious consideration to the rival submissions and perused the material on record.

¶9As noticed supra, in the earlier round of litigation, this Court has come to the conclusion that the petitioners would be entitled to the benefit of the aforesaid Act, which is undisputedly a beneficial piece of legislation. As rightly contended by the learned counsel for the petitioners, the mere inaction on the part of the respondent - State to

issue a notification extending the benefit of the said Act to the petitioners also could not have been made the basis to deny / deprive the entitlement of the petitioners from the benefits under the said Act and especially when the respondents themselves have extended the benefit to similarly / identically situated Daily Wage Employees even after expiry of one year.

¶10Under these circumstances, by invoking /applying the doctrine of parity, I am of the view that the impugned endorsements deserve to be quashed and respondents are to be directed to extend the benefits of the Karnataka Daily Wages Employees' Welfare Act, 2012 in favour of the petitioners and grant all benefits flowing therefrom within a stipulated time frame. ORDER

(i) Writ petition is thereby allowed.

(ii) The Impugned Annexure - H is hereby quashed.

(iii) The respondents are directed to grant the benefits including monetary benefits under the Karnataka Daily Wages Employees' Welfare Act, 2012, in favour of the petitioners within a period e -e11e-eeeee e e NC:(2026:KHC:23452 WP(No.(13557(of(2026 ofe threee monthse frome thee dateeofe receipte ofe ae copyeofethiseorder.eee Sd/-e (S.R.KRISHNAeKUMAR)e JUDGEe iHe iisteio.ee1eileio.ee2ee