The High Court · 2024
Case Details
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI L.P.A. No. 259 of 2023 (Letters Patent Appellate Jurisdiction) 1. The State of Jharkhand. 2. Secretary, Drinking Water and Sanitation Department, Government of Jharkhand, Having its Office at Nepal House, P.O. + P.S. + Doranda, District- Ranchi. 3. The Engineer in Chief, Drinking Water and Sanitation Department, Government of Jharkhand, Having its office at Nepal House, P.O. + P.S. + Doranda, District- Ranchi. 4. The Superintending Engineer, Drinking Water and Sanitation Department, Government of Jharkhand, Drinking Water Sanitation Circle, Dumka, P.O + P.S.-Dumka, District- Dumka. 5. The Executive Engineer, Drinking Water and Sanitation Department, Government of Jharkhand, Drinking Water & Sanitation Sub-Division, .... Appellants Sahebganj. Versus 1. Niranjan Krishna Verma, Son of Late Gopal Krishna Verma, Resident of Kamta Niwas, Mohalla-Balbhadrapur, P.O. and P.S- Laheriasarai, District- ……….Respondent Darbhanga, PIN-846001 (Bihar).
Legal Reasoning
2. The District Accounts Officer, Sahibganj, P.S. and District- Sahibganj. 3. The Accountant General (A&E), Jharkhand, P.O. and P.S. Doranda, District- Ranchi. --------------- CORAM: HON'BLE THE ACTING CHIEF JUSTICE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ARUN KUMAR RAI ….. Performa Respondents For the Appellants For the Respondent : Mr. Manish Kumar, Sr. SC-II : Mr. Prabhat Kumar Sinha, Advocate Mr. Diwakar Jha, Advocate Ms. Kumari Ranjana Singh, Advocate --------------- 23rd February 2024 Per, Shree Chandrashekhar, A.C.J. I.A. No. 4498 of 2023 This interlocutory application has been filed under section 5 of the Limitation Act seeking condonation of delay of 482 days in filing the present Letters Patent Appeal. 2. the delay of 482 days in filing this appeal is condoned. 3. In view of the statements made in this interlocutory application, I.A. No. 4498 of 2023 is, accordingly, allowed. 2 LPA No. 259 of 2023 L.P.A. No. 259 of 2023 4. The State of Jharkhand has challenged the order dated 8th August 2022 by which WP(S) No. 2406 of 2017 which was filed seeking absorption in service and post-retiral benefits to the respondent herein. 5. Before the writ Court, the order dated 8th June 2015 passed by the Engineer-in-Chief, Drinking Water and Sanitation Department, Government of Jharkhand was put to challenge on the ground that other similarly situated persons were absorbed as government employees whereas the claim of the respondent was rejected on the ground that (i) he was formerly an employee of a Corporation and (ii) Special Leave Petitions vide SLP (C) No.16918 of 2015 and SLP(C) No.27461 of 2015 were pending consideration before the Hon’ble Supreme Court. 6. In the first place, this is pertinent to indicate that the aforementioned Special Leave Petitions have been dismissed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court on 7th September 2017. Secondly, the respondent who was working under the Bihar State Sugar Corporation Limited was called on deputation and worked under the Drinking Water and Sanitation Department till he attained the age of superannuation on 31st October 2012. This is not a case set up by the State of Jharkhand that the respondent was working on a post which was not sanctioned or that he was not paid salary from the government fund. Rule 58 of the Jharkhand Pension Rules provides that a government employee shall be entitled for pension provided (i) his employment is permanent (ii) he is paid from the government exchequer and (iii) his service was under the government. 7. under: Rule 58 of Jharkhand Pension Rules, 2000 is extracted as 58. The service of a Government servant does not qualify for pension unless it conforms to the following three conditions:- First – The service must be under Government. Second – The employment must be substantive and permanent. Third – The service must be paid by Government. 8. Long back, in “Deokinandan Prasad v. State of Bihar” (1971) 2 SCC 330 the Hon’ble Supreme Court held that the pension is not to be treated as a bounty payable on the sweet will and pleasure of the Government and that the pension is a valuable right vested in a government servant. In “PEPSU RTC v. Mangal Singh” (2011) 11 SCC 702 the Hon'ble 3 LPA No. 259 of 2023 Supreme Court held that pension is not a charity or a bounty rather the government employee earns it by virtue of his long meritorious service. In “PEPSU RTC” the Hon'ble Supreme Court held as under: “49. To sum up, we state that the concept of pension has been considered by this Court time and again and in a catena of cases it has been observed that the pension is not a charity or bounty nor is it a conditional payment solely dependent on the sweet will of the employer. It is earned for rendering a long and satisfactory service. It is in the nature of deferred payment for the past services. It is a social security plan consistent with the socio-economic requirements of the Constitution when the employer is State within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution rendering social justice to a superannuated government servant. It is a right attached to the office and cannot be arbitrarily denied. (See A.R. Srivastava v. Union of India, Vasant Gangaramsa Chandan v. State of Maharashtra, Subrata Sen v. Union of India; Union of India v. P.D. Yadav; Grid Corpn. of Orissa v. Rasananda Das and All India Reserve Bank Retired Officers Assn. v. Union of India.” 9. The respondent who was working on a sanctioned vacant post and paid from the government fund must therefore be held satisfying the conditions for grant of pension. This also cannot be disputed that a decision on absorption of the respondent was to be taken by the authorities of the State of Jharkhand who however failed to take such a decision and, in the meantime, the respondent retired from service. Rule 36 of the Jharkhand Service Code, 2001 provides that pensionable service means service which qualifies the government servant performing it to receive a pension from general revenue. Under Clause 18 to Appendix VI to the Jharkhand Pension Rules, the minimum qualifying service for a permanent employee was provided as 10 years and for temporary employee as 15 years, however, now for both class of services minimum qualifying period of service for pension is 10 years. The respondent who served under the Government of Jharkhand for more than 12 years is therefore entitled for pension. 10. matter and, accordingly, L.P.A. No.259 of 2023 is dismissed. In the above facts, we do not see any reason to interfere in the 11.
Decision
I.A. Nos. 289 of 2024 and 4499 of 2023 stand disposed of. (Shree Chandrashekhar, A.C.J.) (Arun Kumar Rai, J.) R.K./N.A.F.R.