S P S REKHI Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) . The facts and the issues arising for consideration in these wirt petitions are similar and, therefore, I propose to dispose of all these writ petitions by this common judgment and order.

(2.) . The petitioners herein were all re-employed superannuated officers from the Indian Army. Pursuant to the Scheme of the Respondent's the petitioners here in after their retirement from the Indian Army were re-employed in terms of the said Scheme of the respondents. The petitioners, however a were not given extension of re--employed service upto the age of 58 years in terms of the amended Army instructions and, therefore, the petitioner's herein filed the present petition seeking for a direction to the respondents to allow the petitioners to work and to have extend service upto the age of 58 years.

(3.) . There is a considerable deficiency of regular officers in the Army since long. The same is an accepted position as there is a deficiency of 12000 officers in the Indian Army, In order to cope up with the aforesaid problem, in 1957 a Scheme was started to make up the aforesaid deficiency by re-employing superannuated Army Officers and an instruction to that effect was issued by the Indian Army which is dated 4.2.1990. The aforesaid instruction laid down the terms and conditions of service of Retired Regular Army Officers. It provides that Regular Army Officers who retired in the substantive rank of Lt. Col. and below may be re-employed by Army Headquarters for service in the Regular Army for a maximum period of three years and a minimum period of two years in the first instance. Under the terms and conditions stated in the said instructions it was also provided that extension(s) beyond the above period may also be granted at the discretion of Army Headquarters limited to the age of 55 years. It further provided that Retired substantive Colonels, other than those belonging to AMC, might also be re-employed. Para 6 thereof laid down the age limit which provides that the officers must not be over 53 years of age on the date of re-employment and that no officer under the aforesaid Army instructions would be retained beyond the age of 56 years.