T.V. HAMZA KOYA Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Original Petition is filed aggrieved by the order of the Kerala Administrative Tribunal in O.A(Ekm) No.165 of 2014. The Original Application was filed by the petitioner herein, seeking to set aside Annexure-A10 order and Annexure-A15 letter and for a direction to the respondents to grant retirement benefits to the petitioner for the period of his service in the personal staff of the Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, during the period from 25.5.1982 to 31.3.1987. The petitioner had initially entered service as L.D.Clerk in the Soil Conservation Department on 17.6.1970. Subsequently, the petitioner joined the Revenue Department by way of inter-departmental transfer and while working as U.D.Clerk in the Revenue Department he was deputed to the Kerala Fishermen Welfare Corporation on 7.6.1979 and absorbed as Development Assistant Gr.I w.e.f 5.7.1980. While working as Development Assistant Gr.I in the Kerala Fishermen Welfare Corporation, the petitioner was deputed to the personal staff of the Minister for Food and Civil Supplies w.e.f 25.5.1982. On deputation, the petitioner was initially appointed as Assistant Private Secretary and was later promoted as Additional Private Secretary on 10.5.1983 and continued in that post till 31.3.1987. The petitioner's parent establishment, namely, the Kerala Fishermen Welfare Corporation, was wound up in the meanwhile and its functions were taken over by the Kerala State Co-operative Federation for Fisheries Development (MATSYAFED) w.e.f 1.4.1984. On his tenure in the personal staff of the Minister coming to an end, the petitioner was absorbed into the service of the newly formed MATSYAFED, w.e.f 1.4.1987, and posted as Assistant Secretary, Malappuram.

(2.) According to the petitioner, all erstwhile employees of Kerala Fishermen Welfare Corporation, absorbed into the service of MATSYAFED were given the benefit of Employees Provident Fund only w.e.f 1.4.1987. The Petitioner worked with the MATSYAFED from 1.4.1987 and voluntarily retired from service on 16.1.2006. Thereafter, the petitioner submitted a representation to the second respondent to grant him pension for the period he had worked in the personal staff of the Minister. The second respondent, by Annexure-A10, rejected the petitioner's request mainly for the reason that only directly recruited personal staff are entitled for pension. The other reason stated was that the Fishermen Welfare Corporation being a Government organization, the liabilities of its employees would have been settled by the Corporation before it was wound up. Annexure-A15 is a reply addressed to a Member of Parliament, who had forwarded the petitioner's representation to the Chief Minister. It is stated in Annexure-A15 that since the petitioner was receiving pension for his earlier service with the Government, he is not entitled for a second pension in view of the prohibition contained in Rule 7 of Part III K.S.R.

(3.) In the Original Application the petitioner had assailed Annexures-A10 and A15, primarily on the ground that the Fishermen Welfare Corporation having been wound up on 31.3.1984 and the petitioner having been absorbed in MATSYAFED only w.e.f 1.4.1987, his service in the personal staff of the Minister from 1.4.1984 to 31.3.1987 could be reckoned for the purpose of pension, by considering the petitioner to be a person directly recruited to the personal staff on 1.4.1984. It was contended that Rule 7 of Part III K.S.R only prevents an employee from earning two pensions in the same office at the same time or by the same continuous service. That, the petitioner having not received pension from any other source for the period of his service in the personal staff of the Minister, the restriction under Rule 7 of Part III K.S.R would not apply. Relying on the amendment brought about to the Special Rules for the Personal Staff of the Ministers, the Leader of Opposition and the Government Chief Whip, vide Annexure-A16 Government Order, it was contended that the prohibition under Rule 7 of Part III K.S.R was not applicable.