The Delhi High Court has revived a lawsuit filed by Indian-origin employees of the Italian Embassy in New Delhi, who claim they were subjected to discriminatory pay practices in violation of an Italian Presidential Decree issued in 2000.
A division bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Renu Bhatnagar set aside a May 2019 decision of a single-judge bench that had rejected the employees’ suit at the threshold on the ground that it disclosed no cause of action.
The group of locally recruited employees approached the court alleging that their salaries and benefits were substantially lower than those provided to their Italian-origin counterparts, despite both categories being locally hired and residing in India for at least two years before employment. They argued that this violated the Presidential Decree which, according to them, mandated parity of treatment.
Challenging the earlier dismissal, the appellants said the ruling had “misconstrued and misapplied” the legal standard for rejecting a plaint and deprived them of the chance to prove the alleged disparity.
In its order dated December 3, the bench observed that the single judge had erred in concluding there was no cause of action.
The court said the employees’ claims presented “prima facie reasons to venture into pay parity as a legal entitlement under the Presidential Decree”, noting that the question of whether they formed a homogeneous group entitled to equal pay was a complex factual issue connected to residency, job roles, and cost of living considerations.
According to the bench, these intricacies could not have been summarily decided under the Code of Civil Procedure without allowing the employees to lead evidence.
The court clarified that it had not expressed any opinion on the merits of the claim or potential defences, including limitation and jurisdiction. Those issues, it said, would require fuller consideration during the trial.
Allowing the appeal, the bench reinstated the plaint and directed that the suit proceed to trial on its merits.
