Why Deny Past Dues? Delhi HC Asks Govt on ₹80,000 Pay Revision for Law Researchers

The Delhi High Court has asked the Delhi government to explain why it refused to give law researchers (LRs) their salary hike with retrospective effect.

A Division Bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Rajneesh Kumar Gupta pointed out that the Chief Justice of the High Court had already approved the increase in remuneration from ₹65,000 to ₹80,000 per month with effect from October 2022. However, the Delhi government decided to apply the hike only from September 2, 2025.

The judges questioned this stand, reminding the government that in the past, salary hikes for law researchers were also given retrospectively. “What is the reason you are not giving past dues? On a previous occasion it was given retrospectively. How can you take a different position now?” the Bench asked.

The government’s Principal Secretary for Law and Justice, Reetesh Singh, told the Court that the decision was made prospectively because the Finance Department had raised objections. The Court, however, noted that under Article 229 of the Constitution, the Chief Justice has the power to decide the service conditions of law researchers. It directed the Additional Chief Secretary of the Finance Department to file an affidavit explaining the objection.

The matter will be heard again on October 10.

The petition was filed by 13 law researchers who worked with Delhi High Court judges between 2018 and 2025. They argued that the 2023 decision to increase their pay had been kept pending by the government for two years, and now the refusal to apply it retrospectively was unjust.