IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATES OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Civil Writ Petition No.7120 of 2002 Date of decision: February 26, 2008. Smt. Krishna Khullar ...Petitioner(s) v. State of Punjab & Anr. ...Respondent(s) CORAM:HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SURYA KANT 1. Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment ? 2. To be referred to the Reporters or not ? 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest. Present: Shri Pritam Saini, Advocate for the petitioner. Shri M.C. Berry, Additional Advocate General, Punjab, for the respondents. ORDER Surya Kant, J. - (Oral): In this Civil Writ Petition under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution, the petitioner seeks a writ in the nature of certiorari for quashing of the reply-cum-letter dated 30.4.2002 (Annexure P-6), whereby her claim for counting of the service rendered by her in the Punjab Women & Children Development Corporation (PUNWAC) with effect from 1.9.1983 till 24.9.1993 has been turned down. She also seeks a writ in the nature of mandamus to take the aforementioned service into account for the purpose of retiral benefits. The facts may be noticed briefly. The petitioner joined the PUNWAC on 1.9.1983. Admittedly, the aforesaid Corporation was a State controlled organ falling within the ambit of Article 226 of the Constitution. Subsequently,the PUNWAC ran into losses and many of its employees were declared surplus, who, in terms of the government policy, were decided to be absorbed in government service. The petitioner was absorbed in the Department of Social Security & Women & Child Development, Punjab as a Data Entry Operator vide order dated 15.9.1993 (Annexure P-1). The petitioner joined the aforesaid post in the office of District Social Security Officer, Fatehgarh Sahib on 24.9.1993 and continued to work till she retired on attaining the age of superannuation with effect from 29.2.2000. The petitioner, however, has been denied pension on the ground that the govt. service rendered by her with effect from 24.9.1993 till she attained the age of superannuation, falls short of the “qualifying service” of ten years. The petitioner represented, followed by a legal notice served on her behalf seeking counting of the service rendered by her in the PUNWAC towards pension and other retiral benefits. The petitioner's request, however, having been turned down vide the impugned order dated 30.4.2002 (Annexure P-6) that she has approached this Court. Notice of motion was issued and in response thereto, the respondents have filed their reply in which primarily the petitioner's prayer has been resisted on the ground that she was taken into government service as a new entrant, therefore, her qualifying service being 6 years and 5 months, i.e., less than 10 years, she is ineligible for the grant of pension. The question as to whether the service rendered by a government employee in a State controlled autonomous body, including the Boards/Corporations, etc., would count towards the total qualifying service for the grant of pension and other retiral benefits under the Civil Service Rules is no longer res integra. The petitioner has placed reliance upon a judgment of this Court dated 6.11.2001 rendered in CWP No.4055 of 1994 (Kapur kaur & Ors. v. State of Punjab & Ors.) (Annexure P-4) as well as a judgment dated 16.11.1993 (Annexure P-7) passed in CWP No.17073 of 1991 (Vijay Laxmi & Ors. v. State of Punjab & Ors.). In R.P. Singla v. State of Punjab, 2002(3) RSJ 504, the service rendered with Govt. of Punjab was ordered to be amalgamated with the service rendered in PSEB for the purpose of retiral benefits. Similarly, in CWP No.4007 of 1999 (Gurbax Singh v. U.O.I. & Ors.) decided on May 26, 2000, a Division Bench of this Court directed to count service as a govt. employee the service rendered with the Sports Authority of India for the purpose of retiral benefits. For the reasons afore-stated, it is apparent that the petitioner's claim has not been considered fairly. Consequently, the impugned communication dated 30.4.2002 (Annexure P-6) is hereby quashed and the respondents are directed to reconsider the petitioner's claim for counting of the service rendered by her in PUNWAC towards post retiral benefits in the light of the aforementioned judgments. The consequential monetary benefits, if any, shall be granted to the petitioner within a period of four months from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order. Disposed of. February 26, 2008. [ Surya Kant ] kadyan Judge