Chandra Kanta Gogoi v. The State of Assam and 6 Ors

ORDER

04.01.2023

Heard Mr. SD Purkayastha, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Mr. SS Roy, learned Junior Government Advocate for the respondent No.1 being the Pension and Public Grievance Department, Government of Assam, Mr. D Gogoi, learned counsel for the respondents No.2, 5 and 6 being the authorities under the PHED, Mr. R Barpujari, learned counsel for the respondents No.3 and 7 being the authorities under the Finance Department, Government of Assam and Mr. RK Talukdar, learned counsel for the respondent No.4 being the Principal Accountant General (A & E), Assam.

¶2The petitioner was appointed as a muster roll khalasi on 01.05.1991 and Page No.# 3/4 by the common order contained in the communication dated 04.10.2005 his services were regularized and the name of the petitioner appears in the list enclosed thereof at Sl.No.16. The petitioner retired from service on 30.10.2016. If the petitioner was appointed on 01.05.1991, regularized on 04.10.2005 and retired from service on 31.10.2016, admittedly, he had the qualifying service of more than 20 years and as such entitled for pension and other pensionery benefits.

¶3Although the PHED had processed the pension papers of the petitioner and forwarded it to the office of the Accountant General (A & E), Assam, but it was returned by the communication dated 10.07.2018 of the Senior Accounts Officer. The Senior Accounts Officer in the office of the Accountant General (A & E), Assam was of the view that the fixation of the pay of the petitioner as on

01.04.2016 was not recorded in his service book and the date of initial appointment in the Government approved list as on 01.05.1991 was also not found.

¶4It is stated that the authorities in the PHED in the meantime had provided the required information by their communication dated 11.10.2022, annexed as Annexure-7, page 47 to the writ petition. As regards the third reasoning that the petitioner did not have the qualifying service of 20 years, inasmuch as, while arriving at the qualifying service for pension, six years of service of the petitioner as muster roll worker was deducted by the Senior Accounts Officer, we are of the view that the said issue had already been decided by this Court in the judgment rendered in Sanjita Roy Vs. State of Assam and Others reported in 2019 (2) GLT 805 wherein it is provided that six years of qualifying service of Page No.# 4/4 an employee as a muster roll worker cannot be excluded for the purpose of arriving at the qualifying service for pension. The said judgment also impliedly provides that the entire service of a muster roll worker from the date of his initial appointment up to the date of his retirement should be taken into consideration for the purpose of the qualifying service period for entitlement of pension.

¶5Accordingly, the Senior Accounts Officer in the office of the Accountant General (A & E), Assam is directed to process and bring a logical end to the claim of the petitioner for pension within a period of one month from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order, by taking note that by the communication dated 11.10.2022 the required information had been provided by the PHED and the six years of qualifying service as muster roll worker cannot be deducted to arrive at the total qualifying service.

¶6Writ petition stands disposed of in the above terms.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010251732022 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/9/2023o CHANDRAoKANTAoGOGOIo RETD.oKHALASI,oAoR/O-oVILL-oLONGPOTIAoGAON,oP.O.oLONGPOTIA,oPIN-o 785692,oP.S.oSONARI,oDIST.-oCHARAIDEO,oASSAM VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo6oORS.o REP.oBYoTHEoCOMM.oANDoSECY.oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,oPENSIONoANDo PUBLICoGRIEVANCEoDEPTT.,oDISPUR,oGHY-06 2:THEoCOMM.oANDoSECY.oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oPUBLICoHEALTHoANDoENGINEERINGoDEPTT. oDISPUR oGHY-06 3:THEoCOMM.oANDoSECY.oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oFINANCEoDEPTT. oDISPUR oGHY-06 4:THEoPRINCIPALoACCOUNTANToGENERALo(AoANDoE) oASSAM oMAIDAMGAON oBELTOLA oGHY-29 5:THEoCHIEFoENGINEERo(PHE) oWATER oASSAM oHENGRABARI oGUWAHATI oPIN-o781036 Page No.# 2/4 6:THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER P.H.E. NAZIRA DIVISION NAZIRA ASSAM PIN- 785685 7:TREASURY OFFICER SONARI SUB-TREASURY P.O. SONARI PIN- 785690 DIST.- CHARAIDEO ASSA Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. S D PURKAYASTHA Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ACHINTYA MALLA BUJOR BARUA