SURESH KUMAR Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner has approached this Court seeking quashing of order dated 11.03.2010 communicated to the petitioner vide endorsement dated 16.04.2010 (Annexure P-8) passed by respondent No. 1, whereby the petitioner has been denied the relief of arrears of pay on account of retrospective promotion granted to him in terms of the order dated 18.03.2008 passed by this Court in CWP No. 2948 of 2005, filed by the petitioner earlier. Briefly, the pleaded facts are that the petitioner was working as Pump Operator in Municipal Corporation at Jalandhar. Certain persons junior to him were promoted as Junior Engineer w.e.f. 16.02.2001. Aggrieved against the action of the authority, the petitioner filed CWP No. 2948 of 2005 in this Court, which was disposed of with a direction to the authorities to consider the claim of the petitioner for promotion as Junior Engineer/Sectional Officer from the date, his juniors were promoted. As the order was not complied with within the time granted by this Court, the petitioner filed COCP No. 1342 of 2009, in which an affidavit was filed by the Principal Secretary to the Government Punjab, Department of Local Government stating therein that in terms of the directions issued by this Court, the case of the petitioner was considered and vide order dated 06.08.2009 communicated vide endorsement dated 7.08.2009, the petitioner has been promoted as Junior Engineer (Electricity Wing), the date from which the employees junior to the petitioner were promoted. The aforesaid contempt petition was disposed of by this Court on 19.11.2009 by taking note of the aforesaid affidavit and also observing that in case the petitioner is entitled to any monetary benefit on the basis of order of promotion, the same shall be paid to him within a period of three months. The representation made by the petitioner for granting the relief of arrears of salary was partially declined vide order dated 16.04.2010 passed by the Government of Punjab. The petitioner was only granted the arrears of pay from 18.09.2008, the date upto which the order passed by this Court in the earlier writ petition filed by the petitioner was to be complied with, but relief of arrears of salary from the date the petitioner was promoted, was denied. Thereafter the petitioner filed a fresh contempt petition bearing COCP No. 907 of 2010, however, the same was disposed of with liberty to the petitioner to impugn the order passed by the authority declining him full salary for the period, the petitioner was given retrospective promotion.

(2.) Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that once the persons junior to the petitioner were promoted from the post of Pump Operator to Junior Engineer/Sectional Officer, the case of the petitioner was also required to be considered. He having not been granted promotion, approached this Court by filing CWP No. 2948 of 2005, which was disposed of vide order dated 18.03.2008. It was specifically pleaded by the petitioner therein that the persons junior to him, namely, Ranbir Singh, Ranjinder Sharma and Harjinder Singh had been promoted, though the petitioner had been ignored. The case set up by the respondents therein was that the petitioner having passed diploma in Electrical Engineering was not eligible for the promotion to the post of Sectional Officer (Operation and Maintenance), as the requirement is that a person should have passed diploma in Mechanical Engineering. The plea raised by the respondents therein was rejected considering the fact that other persons, who were junior to him and were promoted also had similar qualification, as the petitioner had. Direction was issued to the respondents to consider the case of the petitioner for promotion from the date his juniors were promoted. The order having not been complied with within the time granted by this Court, the petitioner filed contempt petition bearing COCP No. 1342 of 2009. It was thereafter that the petitioner was promoted as Junior Engineer (Electrical) w.e.f. 16.02.2001 (the date from which his juniors were promoted). As the aforesaid order was passed during the pendency of the contempt petition, the only relief to which, according to the petitioner, he was entitled to, was arrears of salary for the period the petitioner had not been permitted to work as Junior Engineer. The aforesaid contempt petition was disposed of with the observation that in case the petitioner is entitled to any monetary benefit on the basis of order of his promotion, the same shall be paid to him within a period of three months. Still the arrears of salary were not paid and vide impugned order dated 11.03.2010, the authorities have applied a new cut off date. Though he was granted retrospective promotion from a correct date but the date was chosen for grant of arrears was the date on which the time granted by this Court for compliance of the directions, expired, which had no relevance.

(3.) Learned counsel for the petitioner, while placing reliance upon judgments of this Court in CWP No. 4138 of 2010, titled as Gurdial Singh v. Ambala Central Cooperative Bank Ltd. and another, 2011 2 SCT 754 decided on 27.10.2010, LPA No. 544 of 1992, titled as Vidya Parkash Harnal v. State of Haryana, 1995 3 SCT 785 decided on 19.07.1995 and CWP No. 9738 of 2000, titled as Vijay Kumar Verma v. State of Haryana,2002 2 SCT 347 decided on 14.02.2002, submitted that the petitioner is entitled to arrears of pay from the date he was granted promotion as it was not the fault of the petitioner, rather it was a wrong committed by the authorities while not promoting the petitioner whereas the persons juniors to him were promoted. Learned counsel for the petitioner further submitted that the case now sought to be set up in the written statement by the respondents is that the petitioner was not eligible at the relevant time, had already been considered by this Court when the petitioner had filed earlier writ petition and the same was rejected, hence, it cannot be permitted to be raised again.