CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO.19746 of 2008 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO.19746 of 2008 DATE OF DECISION: AUGUST 11 , 2010 Bhupinder Singh Chawla .....Petitioner VERSUS The State of Punjab & others ....Respondents CORAM:- HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE SURYA KANT. PRESENT: Mr. P.K. Guklaney, Advocate for the petitioner. Mr. H.S. Brar, Addl. A.G., Punjab. None for respondent No.4. Mr. Ashok Sharma, Advocate, for respondent No.5. SURYA KANT, J. This order shall dispose of C.W.P. Nos.19746 of 2008, 3528, 3548, 7139, 7516, 10299, 16015, 16016 of 2009, 1545 and 1546 of 2010. The petitioners in these cases are retired Principals/Masters/Teachers, who have served in more than one Government Aided Privately Managed Schools on regular basis. They seek a direction for the counting their entire service rendered in more than one school, against the post(s) duly sanctioned under CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO.19746 of 2008 -2- the Grant-in-Aid Scheme, for the purposes of pension and other retiral dues like gratuity etc. The respondents have filed their reply affidavit admitting the services rendered by the petitioners in one or the other Government aided school, but opposing the writ petitions on such grounds which did not find favour in similar matters earlier decided by this Court. Learned counsel for the parties are ad idem that similar controversy came up for consideration before this Court in C.W.P. No.15780 of 1994 (M.R. Juneja Vs. State of Punjab and others) and the same was allowed on 24.3.2004 in favour of the retirees. The respondents preferred L.P.A. No.21 of 2005, against the above stated judgment, which was dismissed by a Division Bench of this Court vide order dated 5.4.2005. The S.L.P. (Civil ) No.18958 of 2005 preferred by the State of Punjab & others, was also dismissed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court vide order dated 22.9.2006. Thereafter also, several decisions have been rendered by this Court directing the respondents to count the service(s) rendered by the retirees like the petitioners in more than one school for the purposes of their retiral dues. One of the judgment passed by a Division Bench in C.W.P. No.17807 of 2005, decided on 17.5.2007 in Smt. Ramesh Tuli Vs. State of Punjab and others, has been placed on record also (Annexure P-6). For the reasons stated above, these writ petitions CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO.19746 of 2008 -3- are also allowed and the respondents are directed to count the services rendered by the petitioners in more than one Government aided school towards the qualifying service for the purpose of pension, gratuity and other retiral dues, subject to the conditions that the services so rendered were on regular basis and that the petitioners shall deposit the CPF amount along with interest and/or respondents may adjust the same out of the petitioners' retiral dues. The needful shall be done within a period of three months from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order. It is clarified that where the total service rendered by a petitioner in more than one school is not less than 10 years, which is the minimum service to be rendered to earn pension, such retiree shall be treated eligible for pension and granted the pensionary benefits. Ordered accordingly. Dasti. August 11, 2010 ( SURYA KANT) monika JUDGE