R.N.SEHGAL Vs. STATE OF HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS order shall dispose of Civil Writ Petition No.12771 of 2001 (R.N.Sehgal and others v. State of Haryana and others), Civil Writ Petition No.2581 of 2001 (D.N.Kapoor and others v. State of Haryana and others), Civil Writ Petition No.12405 of 2001 (Bharat Kumar and others v. The State of Haryana and others) and Civil Writ Petition No.17500 of 2002 (S.P.Chopra v. The State of Haryana and others) as identical issue is involved in all these writ petitions. Facts, however, are being noticed from Civil Writ Petition No.12771 of 2001.

(2.) THE petitioners retired as Executive Engineers from the Irrigation Department, State of Haryana on different dates, between 31.8.1985 to 31.1.1989. The writ petition has been filed impugning the action of the State Government in not correctly fixing the revised pension and allowances of the petitioners w.e.f. 1.1.1996 in the light of State Government notifications dated 13.1.2000 and 18.1.2000, Annexures P3 and P4 respectively, keeping in view the pay scale of Rs.12000-16500 which was admissible to such Executive Engineers who had to their credit 11 years of regular satisfactory service or more as SDEs/AEs/AEEs.

(3.) THE case set up on behalf of the petitioners is that since they had been working as Executive Engineers on the date when they retired and were also having 11 years of regular service as SDEs/AEs/AEEs, their pension was to be fixed keeping in view the presumption that they were in service as on 1.1.1996 and were entitled for the pay scale of Rs.12000-16500. As per petitioners, they should have been granted pension of at least Rs.6000 i.e. 50% of the minimum of the pay scale i.e. Rs.12000- 16500, whereas their pension has been revised erroneously by keeping the pay scale of Rs.10000-13900. It has also been argued that the notifications dated 13.1.2000 and 18.1.2000, Annexures P3 and P4, create a deeming fiction in favour of the retirees in terms of which they are to be allowed pension keeping in view the pay scale which they would have got by presuming that they were in service on such date i.e. on 1.1.1996 and, accordingly, on account of the fact that all of them possessed 11 years of regular service as SDEs/AEs/AEEs, they would have got the pay scale of Rs.12000-16500. Reliance towards the claim has been placed upon judgment dated 2.2.2009, passed by this Court in Civil Writ Petition No.5520 of 2003, "SP Sood v. State of Haryana and others".