AGROS VOLUNTARY RETIRED EMPLOYEES ASOCIATION Vs. MANAGING DIRECTOR A P AGRO INDUSTRIES DEVLOPMENT CORPORATION LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner is an association of the voluntary retired employees of Agro Industries Development Corporation Limited. It filed this writ petition seeking a mandamus declaring the action of the respondent in not extending the benefit under G.O.(P).No.204 dated 12.12.1997 for enhancement of Dearness Allowance arrears with effect from 01.07.1997 to its members as illegal, unjustified and consequently direct the respondent-Corporation to pay the Dearness Allowance to the members of the petitioner association from 01.07.1997 to 31.12.1997 with all consequential benefits and interest, in accordance with the Board Resolution No.3025, dated 05.09.1997.

(2.) The case of the petitioner, in nutshell, is as follows. The members of the petitioner association worked in the respondent-Corporation in various capacities. While they were in service, they were the members of the Andhra Pradesh State Agro Industries Corporation Employees Union. According to them, the respondent has been paying the scales of pay and allowances to its employees on par with the Government employees and as and when the State Government has revised the pay scales or enhanced the other service benefits, the respondent- Corporation also used to extend the same benefits to its employees without any exception and there was formal approval by the Board for the sanction of service benefits on par with the Government employees. While so, the Government of Andhra Pradesh has issued G.O.(P) No.269 dated 01.12.1995 enhancing the dearness allowance to its employees with effect from 01.07.1995. But the respondent-Corporation has not extended the benefit of the said G.O., to its employees and aggrieved thereby, the A.P. State Agro Industries corporation Employees approached this Court by filing W.P.No,7971 of 1996, and this Court gave an interim direction to the respondent-Corporation to pay the enhanced dearness allowance to the employees of the Corporation in pursuance of G.O.(P) No.269, dated 07.12.1995, with effect from 01.07.1996, pending further orders. The said order was challenged by the respondent Corporation in Writ Appeal No.934 of 1996 and a Division Bench of this Court, by its order dated 13.08.1996, dismissed the said writ appeal. Against the same, the respondent Corporation filed Civil Appeal No. 15076 of 1996 along with S.L.P.No.21295 of 1996, and the Supreme Court by its order, dated 18.11.1996, without interfering with the interim order passed by the learned Single Judge of this Court, directed the learned Single Judge to dispose of the writ petition as expeditiously as possible, preferably within a period of six months from the date of receipt of a copy of the said order.

(3.) It appears some negotiations have taken place between the management of the respondent Corporation and the office bearers of the petitioner-union therein, and in the light of the same, the petitioner therein as well as the respondent-Corporation have arrived at consensus and accordingly the General Secretary of the petitioner therein addressed a letter dated 03.09.1007 to the Vice Chairman and Managing Director of the Respondent-Corporation stating that they would withdraw the writ petition and the writ petition was accordingly dismissed as withdrawn, by order dated 12.09.1997. Pursuant to that the management discussed the sanction of enhanced dearness allowance as item No.3 in its meeting held on 05.09.1997, and accordingly passed Resolution No.3025 resolving to pay the enhanced dearness allowance with effect from 01.01.1997 to its employees and also to sanction the dearness allowance automatically to its employees as and when the Government enhances the same.