IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CWJC No 2147 of 2006 Devakant Jha, son of late Baidyanath Jha, resident of village and P O – Haripur Dihtola, P S – Kaluahi, District – Madhubani -Petitioner Versus 1 The State of Bihar 2 The Commissioner –cum- Secretary, Human Resources, Government of Bihar, Patna 3 Joint Secretary, Human Resources, Government of Bihar, Patna 4 Director, Higher Education, Government of Bihar, Patna 5 Vice-Chancellor, LNMU, Kameshwar Nagar, Darbhanga 6 Registrar, LNMU, Kameshwar Nagar, Darbhanga 7 Principal, R K College, Madhubani -Respondents *** For the petitioner : M/s S C Jha & Puspa Rani, Advocates For LNMU : Mr Partha Sarthy, Advocate For the S t a t e : Mr Amaresh Kr Sinha, AC to GA 5 *** 5 29.03.2011 This writ petition was filed on 17.02.2006 by the petitioner, inter alia, against the Lalit Narayan Mithila University, Darbhanga in regard to his dispute with regard to payment of his salary and his age of superannuation. Petitioner has superannuated as Librarian in R K College, Madhubani which is a constituent College of the L N Mithila University. A counter affidavit has been filed by the University which is on record. It may be noted that almost all disputes stand fully resolved by the counter affidavit as would be indicated hereinafter except one which needs adjudication. Petitioner’s first grievance is that with effect from 01.01.1986, petitioner was entitled to the pay scale of Rs 2,200/- to Rs 4,000/-. It is not controverted that the University also recommended the 2 same pay scale to the petitioner and sent it for approval to the State but as is usual, State was waiting for some time for a mere recommendation and slept over the matter. Petitioner has ascertained and it has not been denied that on 21.10.1994, the State granted approval for payment of remuneration to, inter alia, Librarian of Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Bihar University, Muzaffarpur with effect from 01.01.1986 at the pay scale of Rs 2,200/- to Rs 4,000/- but when it came to the petitioner, the University has now sought to reduce the pay scale to Rs 2,000/- to Rs 3,800/- in view of State Government’s letter dated 13.04.1991. Regrettably, no one has been able to produce the letter of 1991 nor has anyone challenged the correctness of the State Government’s letter dated 21.10.1994 (Annexure-5) by which the enhanced pay scale for Librarians have been accepted and recommended for payment though in respect of B R Ambedkar Bihar University. Having considered the matter, in my view, whatever may be the letter of the Government of the year, 1991, it is clear from the subsequent letter of the Government of the year, 1994 (Annexure-5) that Government did accept the pay scale of Librarian to be Rs 2,200/- to Rs 4,000/-. It is, accordingly, held that with effect from 01.01.1986 till the next revision on 01.01.1996, petitioner would be deemed to be in the pay scale of Rs 2,200/- to Rs 4000/-. Surely the subsequent letter of the State Government would supersede all earlier letters. Petitioner is, thus, entitled to this additional benefit. The next grievance of the petitioner was that the University slashed his pay scale further with effect from 01.01.1996. One need not 3 labour over this as in paragraph-5 and in paragraph-8 of the counter affidavit of the University, it is categorically stated that University has modified its earlier notification and has now allowed the pay scale of Rs 8,000/- to Rs 13,500/- to be admissible in case of the petitioner with effect from 01.01.1996 till his superannuation. Thus, this grievance of the petitioner is settled by the University itself. I, therefore, find that the petitioner is entitled to the pay scale of Rs 8,000/- to Rs 13,500/- with effect from 01.01.1996. The last grievance of the petitioner is that the petitioner has been made to superannuate upon attaining the age of 60 years. This was wrong. He had to superannuate on attaining the age of 62 years. In paragraph-6 of the counter affidavit, University has categorically admitted that the University has modified its previous order and allowed the petitioner to superannuate on attaining the age of 62 years. Thus, even this grievance of the petitioner has been accepted by the University. Accordingly, petitioner would be entitled to full remuneration upto his attaining the age of 62 years when he would be deemed to have superannuated. All retiral benefits would, accordingly, be recalculated keeping in view the aforesaid facts. Accordingly, this writ application is allowed with a direction to the University to make payment to the petitioner with effect from 01.01.1986 in the pay scale of Rs 2,200 to Rs 4,000/- and, thereafter, with effect from 01.01.1996 in the pay scale of Rs 8,000/- to Rs 13,500/- and petitioner would superannuate at the age of 62 years. All financial 4 benefits, as a consequence of this order, would have to be calculated and the difference paid to the petitioner within three months from the date of production of a copy of this order before the Registrar of the University who shall be solely responsible for implementing this order in letter and spirit punctually. Any fund, that is made available to the University by the State for payment of salary and other dues, would be used by the University to pay the petitioner. The writ petition is, accordingly, allowed. M.E.H./ (Navaniti Prasad Singh)