Gaithengbar Gayari v. The State of Assam and 5 Ors

ORDER

20.12.2023

Heard Ms. G. Borah, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Ms. S. Sarma, learned Standing Counsel, P.W.D. for the respondent nos. 1, to 5; Mr. B. Chakravarty, learned counsel for the respondent No. 6 and Mr. R. Ahmed, learned counsel for the respondent No. 5. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that issues involved in this writ petition are akin to the issues which were decided by a Co-ordinate Bench of this Court in W.P.(C). No. 1089/2015 (Sanjita Roy & Ors. Vs. State of Assam & Ors.), reported in 2019 (2) GLT 805 as well as W.A. No.18/2021 and other connected appeals which were disposed of by the Hon'ble Division Bench of this Court vide judgment and order dated 26.02.2021 and therefore, prays to Page No.# 3/6 dispose of the present writ petition in terms of the order passed in WP(C) No.1089/2015. The learned counsel for the parties have been heard. Pleadings on record have been carefully perused. Upon perusal of the pleadings on record, it is seen that a Co-ordinate Bench of this Court, by Judgment and Order dated 04.12.2018, passed in W.P(C) No. 1089/2015 (Sanjita Roy Vs. State of Assam and Ors.), has held that where a Muster Roll employee has completed 20 years of continuous service, the entire period of service would be counted for pensionary benefits and no deduction of the period of service shall be made in terms of the Office Memorandum dated 20.05.2009. Subsequently, another Coordinate Bench of this Court by following the decision taken by this Court in Sanjita Roy (supra) disposed of WP(C) 4027/2019 (Bahadur Pradhan vs. State of Assam and Others) and other connected writ petitions by order dated 21.06.2019. However, the later Coordinate Bench held that since the earlier order of the Court was passed on

04.12.2018 in Sanjita Roy (supra), the benefits granted to the petitioners in Bahadur Pradhan (supra) and the connected writ petitions will be granted only from 04.12.2018. This was followed in another set of writ petitions, which Page No.# 4/6 came to be disposed of by judgment and order dated 13.10.2019, in which the lead case being WP(C) 8713/2019 (Braza Kumar Baruah vs. the State of Assam & 6 Ors). These bunch of writ petitions were also disposed of granting similar reliefs that the petitioners therein would be entitled to get pension under the New Pension Scheme w.e.f. 04.12.2018. It is against this order dated

13.10.2019 passed in WP(C) 8713/2019 that the petitioners therein filed intra Court appeals before this Court, the lead case being WA No. 18/2021 (Bina Pani Das vs. The State of Assam & 12 Ors). The Division Bench of this Court, by judgment and order dated 26.02.2021, passed in WA No. 18/2021 and other connected appeals, held that putting a condition that the benefit of the order passed by this Court in WP(C) 1089/2015 [Sanjita Roy (supra)] will be effective only from the date of the judgment, which is 04.12.2018, is not correct and, more particularly when there was no such embargo in the order dated

04.12.2018 passed by the learned Single Judge in WP(C) 1089/2015 [Sanjita Roy (supra)]. The Division Bench held that an order of the Court is always retrospective in nature unless it is specifically made prospective in the order itself. This is because the courts do not legislate, but only interpret an existing law. The Division Bench further held that the order dated 04.12.2018 is retrospective in nature and it would, therefore, include all similarly situated Muster Roll Workers irrespective of the dates of retirement, provided they are Page No.# 5/6 covered by the benefits given to them earlier, and were already availing pension. The writ appeals were accordingly allowed and the earlier orders passed by the Coordinate Benches restricting the benefit of granting pension with effect from the date of judgment rendered in the case of Sanjita Roy (supra) were set aside. Having heard the learned counsel for the parties and upon careful perusal of the pleadings available on record along with the Judgment and order dated

04.12.2016, passed by the learned Single Judge in WP(C) 1089/2015 [Sanjita Roy (supra)] as well as the Judgment and order dated 26.02.2021, passed the Division Bench in WA No. 18/2021 and other connected appeals, this Court is of the considered view that the issues raised in this writ petition stands covered by the judgment of the Division Bench rendered in WA No. 18/2021 and other connected writ appeals. In that view of the matter, this writ petition is allowed. It is made clear that the petitioner herein stands covered by the directions contained in the order dated 04.12.2018, passed by the learned Single Judge in Sanjita Roy (supra) as upheld by the Division Bench by the order dated 26.02.2021, passed in WA No. 18/2021 and other connected writ appeals. Accordingly, the petitioner is held entitled for grant of pension. The pension and other benefits that may Page No.# 6/6 accrue to the petitioner is directed to be released forthwith, without further delay. Writ petition, accordingly, stands disposed of.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/6 GAHC010281942023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/7399/2023o GAITHENGBARoGAYARIo W/O-oLATEoRINDUoGAYARI,o R/O-oVILLAGEoGAJENPATHARoNO.o1,o PULISOMANI,o P.S.-oBISWANATHoCHARIALI,o DIST.-oSONITPUR,oASSAM. VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo5oORSo TOoBEoREPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEo GOVT.oOFoASSAM,o PENSIONoANDoPUBLICoGRIEVANCESoDEPT.,o DISPUR,oGUWAHATI-6. 2:THEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oPWDoDEPT. oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-6. 3:THEoCHIEFoENGINEER oPWDo(ROADS) oGOVT.oOFoASSAM oCHANDMARI oGUWAHATI-3. 4:THEoUNDERoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oPWDR(AUDIToBRANCH) oDISPUR oASSAM. 5:THEoEXECUTIVEoENGINEER Page No.# 2/6 PWD SONITPUR RURAL ROAD DIVISION BISWANATH. 6:THE ACCOUNTANT GENERAL (A AND E) ASSAM MAIDAMGAON BELTALA GUWAHATI-29 Advocate for the Petitioner : MS. G BORAH Advocate for the Respondent : SC, PWD BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SOUMITRA SAIKIA