High Court · 2025

1. Mr. Ghanshyam Joshi & Mr. Suhal A. Siddiqui, Advocat es for t he pet it ioners. 2. Mr. Ganesh Kandpal, learned Deput y t he St at e of Advocat e General Ut t arakhand. 3. Mr. Shubhang Dobhal & Mr. S.S. Lingwal, Advocat es for t he respondent- Universit y.

4. Since com m on quest ions of fact and involved law are t hese pet it ions, t herefore, t hese pet it ions are clubbed t oget her and decided by t his com m on j udgm ent . However, t he sake of brevit y and convenience, fact s of WPSS No. 2525 of 2024 alone are being considered and discussed. a non- t eaching 5. Pet it ioner was em ployee of Govind Ballabh Pant Agricult ure and Technology Universit y, t he post of Junior who ret ired Engineer, on 31.01.2002; grat uit y has been denied t o him only on t he ground t hat he had opt ed t o ret ire at t he age of 60 years. t hat alt hough

6. Learned counsel for t he pet it ioner t here subm it s Universit y, nam ely, ( i) t hose who had opt ed t o ret ire at t he age of 58 years, & t wo cat egories of em ployee init ially, ( ii) t hose who had opt ed t o ret ire at t he age of 60 years, and as per t he t hen prevailing Governm ent Orders, grat uit y was payable only t o first cat egory of em ployees, nam ely, who had opt ed t o ret ire at t he age of 58 years. He furt her subm it s t hat subsequent ly, t he age of superannuat ion Universit y em ployees becam e 60 years, irrespect ive of opt ion exercised by t hem , t herefore, t he classificat ion of em ployees based on t heir opt ion becam e redundant . He subm it s t hat t his issue was decided in favour of sim ilarly sit uat e em ployees by coordinat e Bench of t his Court in WPMS No. 395 of 2017, which was affirm ed upt o Hon’ble Suprem e Court . He, t herefore, subm it s t hat in view of t he said j udgm ent rendered by coordinat e Bench, pet it ioner t o grat uit y. is also ent it led Learned St at e Counsel, however, 7. subm it s t hat in WPMS No. 395 of 2017 & ot her connect ed pet it ions, coordinat e Bench was considering challenge t hrown by t he Universit y t o t he order passed by Cont rolling Aut horit y under Paym ent of Grat uit y Act , 1972. He subm it s t hat since em ployees t he Cont rolling Aut horit y under t he Paym ent of Grat uit y Act and Cont rolling Aut horit y had allowed t heir applicat ions for release of grat uit y and pet it ioners have direct ly approached wit hout Aut horit y, approaching t herefore, pet it ioners are not ent it led t o any relief in t his writ pet it ion. t his Cont rolling approached Court , Learned counsel for t he pet it ioners 8. subm it s t hat pet it ioners are being denied grat uit y only on t he ground t hat t hey had opt ed for 58 years of age of ret irem ent and t his classificat ion, based on opt ion regarding age on superannuat ion, has been oblit erat ed by virt ue of j udgm ent rendered by coordinat e Bench, t herefore, t o St at e Governm ent exam ine t he claim of t he pet it ioners for grat uit y. direct ed t he

9. Wit hout expressing any opinion on t he m erit s of t he claim raised by t he t he writ pet it ions are pet it ioners, all disposed of wit h libert y t o pet it ioners for grat uit y by m aking st ake claim Secret ary before applicat ion ( Agricult ure) , who shall t he int o m at t er and t ake decision, as per law, from t he dat e of wit hin receipt of such applicat ion. t he Secret ary ( Agricult ure) decides in favour of t he pet it ioners, t hen he shall grant approval t o t he Universit y for releasing of grat uit y, as per law, wit hin t wo weeks t hereaft er. four m ont hs I f ( M a n o j K u m a r Ti w a r i , J)

06.11.2025 Aswal NITI RAJ SINGH ASWAL DN: c=IN, o=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, ou=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, 2.5.4.20=eacc6757ee7881e933ff8934f07477005aa85f9802a3a08b08d136 9512ea30f3, postalCode=263001, st=UTTARAKHAND, serialNumber=44EB54CBF00B7698CB6F10C2CE3D26F5C22DACF4F4610 C1FE58A58531726FBB0, cn=NITI RAJ SINGH ASWAL