STATE OF PUNJAB Vs. DEV DUTT KAUSHAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Leave granted in Special leave Petitions.

(2.) A common question arises in this batch of appeals. For the sake of convenience, we may state the facts in Civil Appeal No. 1102 of 1995 (State of Punjab v. Prof. Dev, Dutt Kaushal, Lecturer), the facts of which case alone were placed before us as representative of the facts in other appeals.

(3.) The respondent joined a private educational institution, M. R. College, Fazilka, as Lecturer on November 26, 1956. After one year, his services were confirmed. His date of birth is October 29, 1931. According to the conditions of service obtaining in the said private educational institution, the age of retirement was fixed at sixty years which could be extended upto sixty five years in certain situations. The said college was taken over by the State Government on June 30, 1983 and since then is being run as a Government college. The respondent was continued in service after such take over. On October 31, 1989, he was retired from service on attaining the age of fifty eight years which is the age of superanuation prescribed under the Government rules. Since his service under the Government was less than ten years, he was not granted any pension. He made a representation not only for pension but also for allowing him to continue in service till he attains the age of sixty years. Since no action was taken on his representation, he approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court by way of a writ petition seeking appropriate directions to the Government to allow him to continue in service till he attains the age of sixty years and also to grant him the pension taking into consideration the total length of service rendered including the service under the private educational institution. The writ petition was dismissed by a learned Single Judge in view of the terms and conditions of the gift deed which was executed at the time of take over of the said college by the Government. The respondent preferred a Letters Patent Appeal which has been allowed by a Division Bench purporting to follow the decision of this Court in State of Orissa v. N. N. Swamy, (1977) 2 SCR 774 . The correctness of the said view is questioned in this batch of appeals.