SOHAN SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB AND OTHERS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The primary grievance, which has made the petitioner knock the doors of this Court, is the rejection of his claim for pension by the respondent-Bhakra Beas Management Board (hereinafter referred to as "the Board"), on the ground that the petitioner did not have the prescribed number of years of qualifying service i.e. 10 years.

(2.) The Bhakra Dam which truly represents the symbol of India's Progress and was rightly described as "The Temple of Resurgent India" by Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru, the First Prime Minister of independent India is one of the biggest multi purpose projects in the world. The project was and is committed for the nations development through eco-friendly generation of electric power from water, better known as hydro electricity.

(3.) A little role was played by the petitioner in setting up the above dam and then in linking the rivers Beas and Satluj for optimum water utilization for generation of electricity in the Bhakra Dam. Right from the dam's institution, the petitioner worked there as a Rigger from 15.5.1955 to 20.2.1965. Thereafter from 17.2.1965 to 30.4.1984, he worked as a fitter in the Beas Satluj Link Project under the Beas Construction Board and then from 12.3.1985 to 30.6.1989, he worked as Fitter with the respondent-Board in the Bhakra Power House Division. It is while working as a Fitter in the respondent-Board that the petitioner superannuated and retired on attaining the age of 58 years w.e.f. 31.7.1992. All the above service so rendered by the petitioner was in work-charged capacity. The work of the petitioner had been always appreciated and this is clear from two of such appreciation letters (Annexures P-3 and P-4) placed on the record by the petitioner which read as under: <FRM>JUDGEMENT_272_LAWS(P&H)12_2014_1.html</FRM>