BELA BHARDWAJ Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By way of this common order, we shall be disposing of CWP No.14756 of 1993 and COCP No.606 of 2004, ordered to be heard along with the writ petition.

(2.) In the writ petition, the petitioner has challenged the amended Rule 2.5 and 3.2 of the Punjab State Cooperative Sugar Mills Service (Common Cadre) Rules, 1980 (for short 'the Rules of 1980') approved by the Registrar Cooperative Societies, Punjab (respondent No.4) vide his letter dated 7.11.1990 and sent by respondent No.2/Punjab State Federation of Cooperative Sugar Mills Limited (for short 'SUGARFED') to respondent No.4 vide letter dated 16.1.1991, for quashing of the orders dated 7.9.1993 and 07.10.1993 and for issuance of a writ of mandamus to direct respondents to protect the seniority of the petitioners in the Head Office of the SUGARFED as proposed in letter dated 3.10.1990 and approved by respondent No.4 vide letter dated 11.1.1991.

(3.) Briefly stated, the Punjab Khand Udyog Limited (for short 'the PKUL'), a registered company was running two sugar mills, namely, Gurdaspur Cooperative Sugar Mills Limited, Gurdaspur and the Zira Cooperative Sugar Mills Limited, Zira. It was a public sector undertaking with 100% shares held by the Punjab State Industrial Development Corporation (for short 'PSIDC'). There were two cadres in the PKUL, known as, common cadre and corporate cadre. The employees of common cadre were used to be posted in the field i.e. in the Mills and the employees of corporate cadre were posted in the Head Office at Chandigarh. The services of the employees of the corporate cadre were transferable to the field office. It is alleged that seniority of both the cadres were maintained separately and in the month of September 1989, it was decided by the Project Approval Board of Punjab Government to disinvest the holding of shares by PSIDC in PKUL. The said decision of the Project Approval Board was implemented in the form of an agreement dated 27.7.1988 entered into between PSIDC as seller and the Gurdaspur Sugar Mills Limited, Gurdaspur and Zira Cooperative Sugar Mills Limited, Zira, both controlled by the SUGARFED as purchaser.