IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH C.W.P.No.15078 of 2009 Date of Decision:- 26.02.2010 Paramjit Singh ....Petitioner(s) vs. Punjab and Haryana High Court ....Respondent(s) *** CORAM:- HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH *** Present:- Mr.R.K.Malik, Sr. Advocate with Mr.R.K.Arora, Advocate, for the petitioner. Mr.Rajesh Garg, Advocate, for the respondent. *** AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH, J. (Oral) Prayer in the present petition is for issuance of a direction to the respondents to step up the pay of the petitioner equivalent to his junior Sh.Kanwal Rampal, Reader, with effect from 10.12.2007 at Rs.9750/- in terms of the Division Bench judgment of this Court reported as 2005 (4) S.C.T. 208 Chhajju Ram Hans vs. High Court of Punjab and Haryana, as the claim of the petitioner is squarely covered by the aforesaid judgment. Counsel for the petitioner states that as per the reply filed by the respondent, a Committee was constituted to look into the claim of the petitioner on a representation submitted by him, which has already given a favourable report qua the petitioner thereby accepting the representation of the petitioner. Copy of the said report of the Committee has been placed on record by the respondents themselves as Annexure R-2. He, on this basis, prays that even on the administrative side, the claim of the petitioner has C.W.P.No.15078 of 2009 -2- been duly considered and accepted by the Committee constituted by Hon'ble the Chief Justice of the High Court and, therefore, it is an admitted position on the part of the respondent that the petitioner too is entitled to the claim which has been raised in the present writ petition. Counsel for the respondent does not dispute the contention as has been raised by the counsel for the petitioner but states that after the consideration of the claim of the petitioner, a joint representation of Sarvshri Shashi Bhushan Kaushik, Hemant Singh Walia, Adarsh Kumar Sharma and Sham Lal Sharma, Special Secretaries was also received by the respondents which were also placed before the Committee which were duly considered and their claims were also recommended for stepping up of their pay equivalent to their juniors (Annexure R-3). When this matter finally came up for consideration before Hon'ble the Chief Justice, it was observed vide order dated 1.7.2009 that a comprehensive decision be taken in the matter lest there is some confusion, so that the claim of all similarly placed employees who are entitled to the said benefit of stepping up of pay equivalent to that of their juniors, be decided in one go. The matter was referred back to the Committee but no decision as yet has been taken by the Committee on that aspect. It has also been brought to the notice of the Court that because of retirement of one of the Hon'ble Judges of the Committee, the Committee has been re-constituted and the matter is now likely to be taken up by the Committee for consideration on 8.3.2010. I have heard counsel for the parties and gone through the records of the case. The claim of the petitioner has been admitted by the respondent C.W.P.No.15078 of 2009 -3- in its written statement and has not been disputed by the counsel during the course of hearing. The claim of the petitioner, thus, cannot be stalled and delayed because the cases of other similarly placed employees have also to be considered and decided. Therefore, the present writ petition is allowed and a direction is issued to the respondent to step up the pay of the petitioner equivalent to his junior Sh.Kanwal Rampal, Reader, with effect from 10.12.2007 at Rs.9750/- as directed by the Committee vide Annexure R-2 within a period of two months from today. All consequential benefits be also released to the petitioner within a period of three months thereafter. A perusal of the order dated 1.7.2009 (Annexure R-3) passed by Hon'ble the Chief Justice indicates that representations of about 150 employees were received for stepping up of their pay to bring the same at par with their juniors but no decision has been taken by the respondent till date. The aggrieved employees would wait for some time and then left with no option shall approach the Court by filing cases praying for issuance of time bound directions for consideration and decision on their representations; which is not desirable. Registrar General should pursue the matter personally so that the representations are considered and decisions taken thereon expeditiously. Petition stands disposed of. February 26, 2010 ( AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH ) poonam JUDGE