BAIJ NATH PANDEY Vs. THE STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present writ petition has been filed for quashing the order dated 14.02.1998 passed by the Director, Department of Statistics and Evaluation, Bihar, Patna i.e. respondent no. 4, as contained in Annexure-3 to the writ petition, whereby and where under it has been directed to cancel the first time bound promotion and recover the financial benefits given to them as a consequence of cancellation of the said first time bound promotion of those Block Statistical Supervisor/Junior Statistical Assistant who have got the benefit of promotion and have been promoted to the post of Block Statistical Supervisor/Junior Statistical Assistant. The petitioner has further prayed for quashing the order dated 21.3.2001 passed by the respondent no. 4 as also the order dated 06.06.2001 passed by the Administrative Officer, Department of Planning (Statistics) and Evaluation (Nideshalaya), Government of Bihar, Patna i.e. the respondent no. 6, whereby and where under the petitioner has been directed to deposit a sum of Rs. 34,497.55 in the Government Treasury as well as the petitioner has been informed that earlier he was directed to deposit a sum of Rs. 34,457.55 by means of challan, however, the office has not been informed about the compliance of the said directions. The petitioner has also challenged the order dated 16.10.2001 passed by the respondent no. 4 whereby the office order no. 707 dated 02.3.1998, where under the second time bound promotion was granted to the petitioner, has been cancelled and the salary of the petitioner has been fixed as Rs. 1600-2780/- with effect from 19.8.1989 instead of Rs. 1800-3330/- and the pay has been fixed at Rs. 2050/-. The order dated 05.4.2002 passed by the respondent no. 5, where under it has been directed to adjust the amount recoverable, from the 10 per cent amount of gratuity withheld and whereby it has also been stated that the amount of excess pension being paid to the petitioner per month is Rs. 195/- (old scale) and Rs. 257/- (new scale), has been challenged. The order dated 23.5.2002 passed by the Accountant General, Bihar, Patna, by which the pension and gratuity amount of the petitioner has been revised and a sum of Rs. 37,444.65/- has been sought to be recovered, has also been challenged.

(2.) The learned counsel for the petitioner has argued that since the petitioner has stood retired from the post of Junior Statistical Assistant with effect from 28.2.1997, the impugned orders are against the principles of law laid down by the Hon'ble Apex Court especially since there has been no misrepresentation on the part of the petitioner herein and for no fault of his, recovery has been sought to be made after the retirement of the petitioner herein.

(3.) Per contra, the learned counsel for the respondents, referring to the counter affidavit filed on behalf of the respondents, has submitted that originally the petitioner was appointed on the post of Complier in the year 1964 and thereafter he was granted the benefit of promotion by being promoted to a higher post of Junior Statistical Assistant in the year 1975, i.e. prior to the implementation of the scheme of time bound promotion. It has been stated that the first and second time bound promotions are to be granted after 10/25 years respectively of uninterrupted service on the same post on which the incumbent was primarily appointed. However, the incumbents who have got regular promotion prior to completion of the aforesaid period of 10/25 years on the appointed post are not eligible for grant of time bound promotion. It is submitted by the learned counsel for the respondents that in the instant case, the petitioner received regular promotion to the post of Junior Statistical Assistant from the post of Complier within a span of nine years from the date of his appointment, hence he was not entitled for grant of time bound promotion.