ILA SINHA Vs. STATE OF JHARKHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) IN this writ application the petitioner has prayed for quashing the letter dated 3227 dated 20.9.2006 issued by the respondent no. 2 whereby the respondents have denied payment of pension and gratuity to the petitioner although such payment has been made to similarly situated other employees. Prayer has also been made for issuance of a direction to the respondents to pay the post retirement benefits including pension, gratuity and leave encashment which has been withheld even after the retirement of the petitioner on 31.1.2003. Prayer has also been made for direction to the respondents to release the payment of salary payable to the petitioner for the period from 16.5.2001 to 31.1.2003 when the petitioner remained idle and no work was offered to him. Further, prayer has also been made to direct the respondents to pay the petitioner the salary for the period from 15.3.1998 to 6.5.1998 during which he was kept on corridor posting.

(2.) THE petitioner was appointed as a Supervisor under the Education Department vide Memo No. 198 dated 20.2.1980 issued by the Director of Adult Education, Bihar, Patna. The petitioner, alongwith other similarly situated employees, was sent for training on 6.3.1980 and after completion of the training, the petitioner was posted as Project Officer, Kathikund, in the district of Durnka, under the Adult Education Department. The Department of Adult Education, Non -Formal Education was merged in' 1990 by the State Government and a unified Department was put under the Directorate of Adult and Non -Formal Education. Later, the State Government abolished a number of posts, including the post of supervisor and consequently several employees working as supervisors including the petitioner were retrenched on 16.6.1992.

(3.) AFTER reorganization of the State of Bihar on 15.11.2000, services of the petitioner came under the Government of Jharkhand under the Director of Primary Education Department. Subsequently pursuant to the decision taken by the. Government of India, on 1.4.2001, Mass Education/Non -Formal Education Programme was abolished and consequently the Government of Jharkhand also closed the non Formal Education Programme w.e.f. 15.5.2001 declaring thereby the employees working under the Mass Education/ Non -Formal Programme as excess employees. When such a situation was created, the affected employees under the Mass Education Programme filed Writ Petition (S) No. 298 of 2002 before this Court for issuance of direction to the respondents for absorption of the employees of Non -Formal Education Programme. In the aforesaid writ petition, the respondents had stated that a committee had been constituted for the purpose of absorbing such employees and the scrutiny of the cases of the employees would be completed with a few months. Upon such assurance by the respondent the writ petitioner was disposed of by order dated 16.3.2003. However, during the pendency of the writ petition, the petitioner was superannuated on 31.1.2003.