IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH C.M. No. 6628 of 2010 and C.W.P. No. 18787 of 2007 Date of Decision : May 17, 2010. Colonel (Retd.) Kulwant Singh Sandhu (No. IC-33728N 'Army Ordinance Corps' Date of Retirement 31.01.2002) s/o Late S. Massa Singh Sandhu, R/O H. No. 738B, Phase-II Joginder Vihar SAS Nagar Mohali (Punjab) ...... Petitioner . Versus. Union of India and others ..... Respondents. CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH. Present:- Mr. Rajeev Anand, Advocate, for the petitioner . Ms. Geeta Singhwal, Senior Panel Counsel, for respondents. AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH, J. (ORAL). C.M. No. 6628 of 2010. Prayer in the present application is for listing the case for final disposal in the light of the order passed by Hon'ble the Supreme Court in the Transfer Petition (Civil) No. 56 of 2007 titled as Union of India and others Versus N.K. Nair and others and other connected writ petitions preferred before Hon'ble the Supreme Court. Notice of the application was issued to respondents on the last date of hearing. Ms. Geeta Singhwal, Senior Panel Counsel, has put in appearance on behalf of respondents. Heard counsel for the parties. Prayer made in the application is allowed. The main case is taken up for hearing with the consent of counsel for the parties. Application stands disposed of. C.W.P. No. 18787 of 2007 (O/M). -2- Counsel for the petitioners states that the present case is fully covered by the judgment of Hon'ble the Supreme Court in Transfer Petition (Civil) No. 56 of 2007 titled as Union of India and others Versus N.K. Nair and others and other connected writ petitions. The said judgment was pronounced by Hon'ble the Supreme Court on 08.03.2010, wherein Hon'ble the Supreme Court has upheld and affirmed the Division Bench judgment of High Court of Kerala and held the official entitled to grant of rank pay retrospectively with effect from 01.01.1986. He, therefore, contends that the present writ petition be allowed in the same terms. Counsel for respondents does not dispute the contention as raised by counsel for the petitioners. Heard counsel for the parties. Hon'ble the Supreme Court, vide its Order dated 08.03.2010 has held as follows :- “ORDER Heard learned counsel for the petitioners and Mr. Mohan Jain, learned Addl. Solicitor General appearing for the Union of India. Application for intervention in T.P. (C) No. 56/2007 is allowed. Since the issue involved in the writ petitions pending before the various High Courts is the same as in Writ Petition No. 96 of 2009 and 34 of 2009 pending before this Court, this transfer petition is allowed. Writ Petition Nos. 11056/2006, 11128/2006, 10810/2006, 13508/2006, 13497/2006 and 18176/2006 pending before the High Court of Kerala, Writ Petition No. 13904/2006 pending before the High Court of Andhra Pradesh and Writ Petition Nos. 1935/2006, 1934/2006, 1957/2006 and 47909/2006 pending before the High Court of Allahabad, are directed to be transferred to this Court and taken on Board. The prayer in these writ petitions under Article 32 of the Constitution of India is for grant of benefits awarded by a C.W.P. No. 18787 of 2007 (O/M). -3- learned Single Judge of the Kerala High Court vide his judgment dated 05.10.1998 in O.P. No. 2448/1996 which has been affirmed by the Division Bench of the High Court in Writ Appeal No. 518/1999 by judgment dated 04.07.2003. We have carefully perused the judgment dated 05.10.1998 of the learned Single Judge as well as judgment dated 04.07.2003 of the Division Bench of High Court of Kerala and we respectfully agree with the reasoning given therein for grant of rank pay retrospectively from 01.01.1986. We also direct interest to be paid thereon at 6% p.a. Accordingly, these writ petitions as well as transferred writ petitions are allowed. No order as to costs. ......... J (Markandey Katju) ......... J (R.M. Lodha) New Delhi ; March 08, 2010” The present writ petition is allowed in the same terms with a further direction that the amount of arrears alongwith interest be released to the petitioner within a period of five months from the date of receipt of certified copy of this Order. (AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH) JUDGE May 17, 2010. sjks.