JOGA SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By this petition, the petitioner seeks that his services as a Chowkidar in the respondent Irrigation Department of the Government of Punjab, be regularised w.e.f. 23.01.2001, in terms of the Government instructions of that date, a copy of which has been annexed as Annexure P-2 with the petition. He also seeks consequential benefits of such regularisation of service, including pension and the benefit of additional increments on completion of 8 and 18 years of service, along with the interest on the money arrears that would be payable to him on account of the above, with his pension and increments to be counted after giving him the benefit of the service rendered by him in the Army earlier. It is to be stated at the outset that two petitions, i.e. the present CWP no.5933 of 2006, and CWP no.5852 of 2006, titled Rajinder Singh v. State of Punjab and another, were tagged together, the issue in both the cases being regularisation of the services of the petitioners, in terms of the aforesaid instructions of the Government. The petitioners in both these petitions, who had been working in a work charged capacity, were not taken back in service, after they attained the age of superannuation, i.e. 60 years, though no orders of retirement/their having superannuated, were passed, their services not having been "regularised".

(2.) Whereas the services of the petitioner in CWP no.5852 of 2006 were regularised during the pendency of these petitions, as recorded in the order passed in that petition on 17.02.2016, the services of the petitioner herein, Joga Singh, were not regularised, on the ground that his turn for regularisation, as per the seniority list of work charged employee prepared by the department, did not come up till the date that he reached the age of 60 years, i.e. the age at which he would have otherwise retired had he been a regular government employee.

(3.) The case of the petitioner is that he had earlier joined Military service during the first emergency, on 23.11.1963, from where he retired as a Havaldar/GD w.e.f. 01.01.1983, as stated in the certificate of service given by the Army, a copy of which has been annexed as Annexure P-1 with the petition. Thereafter, he joined the respondent Department as a Chowkidar on work charged basis, on 01.01.1987. He continued working on the said post without any break and as per the petitioner, he "ultimately superannuated from the post of Chowkidar" on 30.11.2005, upon attaining the age of 60 years, his date of birth being 30.11.1945. It is however admitted in the petition that he was not issued any retirement order but "was superannuated on 30.11.2005", on the basis of his date of birth, as recorded in the Discharge Certificate issued by the Army.