A Letters Patent Appeal challenged a Single Judge order granting employees' claim for pension calculation based on their entire length of service including initial rojamdar tenure. The High Court upheld the lower court view.
The Letters Patent Appeal was dismissed, upholding the Single Judge's order granting pension benefits based on total service.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
C/LPA/1056/2021 ORDER DATED: 15/12/2021
IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/LETTERS PATENT APPEAL NO. 1056 of 2021 In R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 23286 of 2019 With
CIVIL APPLICATION (FOR STAY) NO. 1 of 2021 In R/LETTERS PATENT APPEAL NO. 1056 of 2021
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STATE OF GUJARAT
Versus
GORABHAI KALUBHAI SOLANKI
================================================================ Appearance:
MR URMILA DESAI AGP for the Appellant(s) No. 1,2,3 for the Respondent(s) No.
1,10,100,101,102,103,104,105,106,107,108,109,11,110,111,112,113,114,115 ,116,117,118,119,12,120,121,122,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,2,20,21,22,23,24,25, 26,27,28,29,3,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,4,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,4 9,5,50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,6,60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,7,70,71,7 2,73,74,75,76,77,78,79,8,80,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89,9,90,91,92,93,94,95, 96,97,98,99
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CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE S.H.VORA
and HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ANIRUDDHA P. MAYEE
Date : 15/12/2021
ORAL ORDER
(PER : HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ANIRUDDHA P. MAYEE)
1. The present Letters Patent Appeal takes exception to judgment and order dated 03.08.2021 passed in Special Civil Application Nos. 23242 and 23286 of 2019.
2. The brief facts leading to filing of the present appeal are as follows :-
2.1 The respondents herein have rendered their services ranging from 20 to 44 years as rojamdars .
Page 1 of 4
C/LPA/1056/2021 ORDER DATED: 15/12/2021
2.2 The appellants accordingly fixed their pension as per Government Resolution dated 17.10.1988 by deducting their 10 years of service. Aggrieved, the respondents filed Special Civil Application Nos.23242 and 23286 of 2019 praying for the following reliefs :-
“(A) Your Lordships may be pleased to admit and allow this petition;
(B) Your Lordships may be pleased to issue a writ of mandamus and/or any other appropriate writ, order or direction :
(i) to hold and declare that action on the part of the respondents in not making full payment of pensionary benefits to the petitioners by counting their entire length of service from the date of joining till date of retirement as illegal, unjustified, arbitrary and further be pleased to direct the respondents to fix the pension of the petitioner by counting his service from date of joining until the date of retirement and fix the pension accordingly;
(ii) to hold and declare that the petitioners are entitled to all other retiral benefits including benefit of leave encashment and be pleased to further direct the respondents to pay amount of leave encashment of leave standing in the account of the petitioners.
(iii) to direct the respondents to pay difference of pensionary benefits, gratuity amount and leave encashment with 18% interest from the date when it fell due.
(B) Pending admission, hearing and final disposal of this petition, this Hon’ble Court may be pleased to direct the respondents to immediately revise the pension of the petitioners on the basis of their total length of service.
(C) Your Lordships may be pleased to grant such other and further relief that may be deemed fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case.”
Page 2 of 4
C/LPA/1056/2021 ORDER DATED: 15/12/2021
2.3 By judgment and order dated 03.08.2021, the learned Single Judge was pleased to allow the Special Civil Applications.
2.4 Aggrieved, the appellants herein have preferred the present Letters Patent Appeal.
3. Learned Assistant Government Pleader Ms. Urmila Desai submitted that the respondents herein are not entitled to receive the benefit of fixation of pensionary benefits from the initial date of appointment, but are only entitled to receive the same from the date of regularization. It was further submitted that for the purpose of calculation of pension, the services of an employee pursuant to regularization is only to be considered and the initial service as Rojamdar cannot be considered. Learned AGP accordingly prayed that the Letters Patent Appeal be allowed.
4. It is seen that the present issue is now well settled by this Court through catena of judgments. This Court in (I) State of Gujarat and anr. vs. Mahendrakumar Bhagvandas & Anr. reported in 2011 (2) GLR 1290, (II) the Division Bench judgment rendered in Letters Patent Appeal No.764 of 2019 in the case of Sardarbhai Panabhai Chauhan vs. State of Gujarat (III) Executive Engineer, Panchayat vs. Samudabhai Jyotibhai Phedi reported in 2017 (4) G.L.R. 2952 (IV) Order dated 21.08.2019 passed in Special Civil Application No.11086 of 2019 and various other judgments, has held that the employees like the present respondents are entitled to payment of pensionary benefits by taking into consideration the entire length of service from the date of initial joining. Some of these judgments have also been confirmed upto the Hon’ble Supreme Court.
5. When specifically this legal position was put to the learned AGP, she could not dispute the same.
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C/LPA/1056/2021 ORDER DATED: 15/12/2021
6. In this conspectus of the matter, this Court is of the opinion that there is no error in the impugned judgment and order passed by the learned Single Judge and it has been rightly held that the respondents herein are entitled to the benefits claimed by them. In the premises, the present Letters Patent Appeal is dismissed. No order as to cost. Consequently, connected Civil Application does not survive and accordingly, it stands disposed of.
(S.H.VORA, J)
(ANIRUDDHA P. MAYEE,J)
cmk
Page 4 of 4
3 issues framed by the court
Whether employees entitled to pensionary benefits from the date of initial joining can claim benefits calculated from the date of regularization.
Whether the calculation of pension by excluding initial service rendered as rojamdars is illegal and arbitrary.
Whether an interlocutory stay order passed by the Single Judge in favor of employees should be allowed on appeal.
Colour shows how this judgement treated each authority
State of Gujarat and anr. vs. Mahendrakumar Bhagvandas & Anr.Referred¶36
State of Gujarat and anr. vs. Mahendrakumar Bhagvandas & Anr. reported in 2011 (2) GLR 1290
Sardarbhai Panabhai Chauhan vs. State of GujaratReferred¶36
Letters Patent Appeal No.764 of 2019 in the case of Sardarbhai Panabhai Chauhan vs. State of Gujarat
Executive Engineer, Panchayat vs. Samudabhai Jyotibhai PhediReferred¶36
Executive Engineer, Panchayat vs. Samudabhai Jyotibhai Phedi reported in 2017 (4) G.L.R. 2952
Special Civil Application No.11086 of 2019Referred¶36
Special Civil Application No.11086 of 2019 Order dated 21.08.2019
State of Gujarat
Gorabhaj Kalubhai Solanki
S.H. Vora
Aniruddha P. Mayee
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
