Bengaluru: Karnataka high court has issued a show-cause notice to the state govt over the failure to issue a caste validity certificate to a nurse at the state-owned Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), Hubballi, for over 16 years, leaving her on a consolidated salary of Rs 10,000 a month despite a court order passed in 2011.A division bench of Justices M Nagaprasanna and Hema Kulkarni passed the order Wednesday while hearing a writ appeal filed by the nurse, Anusuya P Koti.The court questioned why the loss of salary suffered by Anusuya should not be determined and recovered from the officers responsible for the prolonged delay. The bench also sought an explanation on why exemplary costs should not be imposed for allowing the employee to suffer despite repeated representations and court orders. It directed the state to disclose the reasons for the delay, identify the officers responsible at different stages, and detail steps taken to comply with earlier directions.Anusuya, who belongs to Moger caste, said she had not been paid her full salary since 2010 because the caste validity certificate had not been issued, despite the HC’s order in 2011.She claimed that a similarly placed employee was issued a caste validity certificate following an HC order in 2016. Anusuya again approached the court in 2025, following which an order directed the authorities to complete the process within two months. However, the process has still not been completed.After examining the material on record, the bench said administrative delay could not justify denying an employee the benefits of her work. It noted that Anusuya had been waiting nearly 16 years for a decision, despite repeated representations and judicial directions.The court observed that the deputy commissioner or competent district caste verification committee had failed to act despite repeated interventions, and the delay had resulted in continuing financial deprivation of the petitioner. While another employee performing the same duties was receiving a salary in the pay scale of Rs 36,000 to Rs 67,550, Anusuya was living on a consolidated monthly salary of Rs 10,000, the bench noted.“A humble staff nurse, who devotes her working hours to the care of the sick and the suffering, is herself made to suffer at the hands of an administration, which ought to have protected her legitimate service interests,” the bench observed.The court said the state, as a model employer, could not remain a silent spectator to such deprivation, and an employee could not be left at a perpetual financial disadvantage because an authority had failed to decide her entitlement. The matter has been posted for Oct 29, when the state is required to place its explanation before the court.QuoteAdministrative lethargy cannot become a legitimate reason to deny an employee the fruits of her labour, nor can the silence of an authority be permitted to speak louder than the commands of this court — Karnataka HC division bench
