KUNDAN LAL NARANG Vs. STATE OF HARYANA THRU SECRETARY TO GOVT , HARYANA, LOCAL SELF DEPARTMENT, CHANDIGARH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This order will dispose of Civil Writ Petition Nos. 427 and 5450, 6064 and 6663 of 1986 as common question of law and fact are involved in them.

(2.) The short question that falls for determination in the writ petition is as to whether the employees of the Municipal Committees and Faridabad Complex Administration located in the State of Haryana, who retired after the enforcement of the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 (for short 'the Act') were entitled to the payment of gratuity under the provisions of the said Act. The stand taken on behalf of the respondent-State and the concerned Local Bodies is that they were entitled to payment of such gratuity only from the date the provisions of the said Act extended inter alia to Local Bodies by notification issued to give effect to the provision of section 1(3)(c) of the Act on 23rd January, 1982, and only such employees as had retired on or after 23rd January, 1982, were entitled to the payment of gratuity in terms of the relevant provisions of the said Act.

(3.) The matter is not res integra. The question directly arose for consideration before a learned Single Judge of this Court in Chaman Lal v. Municipal Committee, Panipat, 1985 87 PunLR 513. The question posed before the learned Single Judge was as to whether the Municipal employees were entitled to the payment of gratuity in terms of the said Act. The learned Judge was of the opinion that the Municipality is covered by the expression 'establishment' occurring in clause (b) of sub-section (3) section 1 of the Act, which reads :-