Assam: SC Orders To Clear Rs 650 Cr Dues To Workers Of 25 Tea Gardens

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered to clear the payment of 25 tea gardens in Assam. The amount of money which is to be paid to the tea workers amounts to Rs 650 crores towards dues of 28,556 workers of 25 tea gardens of the state.

A group of judges including justices MR Shah and CT Ravikumar accepted the report submitted by retired Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre. Justice MR Shah said, "We accept the report submitted by the committee consisting of Justice Sapre so far as the amount payable to workers, public staff and sub staff of the tea gardens run by ATCL of the Assam government and private tea gardens in the state of Assam. We direct that the amount payable as per the committee's report be paid to the concerned staff within time stipulated by the committee and on due proper identification".

The committee of Justice Sapre was constituted by the Supreme Court via its order dated January 10, 2020 to ensure that the dues of the tea garden workers are properly calculated and paid accordingly.

As per Live Law, the committee in its report concluded that Rs. 414.7 Crores (approx.) is the total amount of various dues payable to the 28,556 workers of 25 tea gardens in the state of Assam and Rs. 230.7 crores.

It is to be mentioned that the state government had paid the respective workers an interim payment of Rs. 99 crores after being directed by the Supreme Court in 2018.

On the other hand, Senior Advocate Sanjib Kumar appearing for the state of Assam raised objection to the report and amount payable with respect to 7th pay commission recommendation. However, Advocate Gaurav Agarwal appearing for the committee pointed out that in its earlier order dated 19 May, 2022, it had specifically dealt with the same issue of arrears of liability as per the 7th pay commission recommendation.

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