1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA CWP No. 5049 of 2009 alongwith CWP Nos.2480, 1051, 1052, , 2484, 2633, 2635, 2636, 469, 470, 566, 797, 845, 958, 959,956 and 2634 of 2010 Date of decision: 14.7.2010 1.CWP No.5049 of 2009 Punnu Ram ….. Petitioner. Vs. State of H.P. & Ors …. Respondents. 2. CWP No.2080 of 2010 Puran Chand ….. Petitioner. Vs. State of H.P. & Ors …. Respondents. 3.CWP No.1051 of 2010 Surat Ram ….. Petitioner. Vs. State of H.P. & Ors …. Respondents. 4.CWP No.1052 of 2010 Raj Kumari ….. Petitioners. Vs. State of H.P. & Ors …. Respondents. 5. CWP No.2484 of 2010 Bishwanath Bhushan ….. Petitioner. Vs. 6.CWP No.2633 of 2010 Sauja ….. Petitioner. Vs. State of H.P. & Ors …. Respondents. 7.CWP No.2636 of 2010 Rattan Lal ….. Petitioner. Vs. State of H.P. & Ors …. Respondents. 8. CWP No.2633 of 2010 Inder Lal ….. Petitioner. Vs. State of H.P. & Ors …. Respondents. 9.CWP No.956 of 2010 Abdul Hamid ….. Petitioner. Vs. State of H.P. & Ors …. Respondents. 10.CWP No.469 of 2010 Gopal Krishan ….. Petitioner. Vs. State of H.P. & Ors …. Respondents. 11.CWP No.470 of 2010 Sita Ram ….. Petitioner. Vs. State of H.P. & Ors …. Respondents. 12.CWP No.566 of 2010 Ateh Mohd. ….. Petitioner. Vs. State of H.P. & Ors …. Respondents. 13.CWP No.797 of 2010 Daulat Ram ….. Petitioner. Vs. State of H.P. & Ors …. Respondents. 14.CWP No.845 of 2010 2 Piare Lal ….. Petitioner. Vs. State of H.P. & Ors …. Respondents. 15.CWP No.958 of 2010 Krishan Lal ….. Petitioner. Vs. State of H.P. & Ors …. Respondents. 16.CWP No.959 of 2010 Sukhdev ….. Petitioner. Vs. State of H.P. & Ors …. Respondents. 17.CWP No.2634 of 2010 Bhrama Nand ….. Petitioner. Vs. State of H.P. & Ors …. Respondents. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Coram The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Kurian Joseph, Chief Justice. The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Kuldip Singh, Judge. For the petitioner(s) : Mr. Ramkant Sharma, Advocate with Mr. Bhuvnesh Sharma, Advocate. For the respondents : Mr. R.K. Sharma, Sr. Addl. Advocate General. Justice Kurian Joseph, C.J. (Oral) The prayers in all these writ petitions are identical in nature. Therefore those in writ petition No.5049 of 2009 are extracted which read as follows:- (i) that the respondents No.1 and 2 may very kindly be directed to count the services rendered by the petitioner in Fish Federation, Bilaspur towards all service benefits including the length of service for the purpose of seniority, promotion, qualifying service for pension, provident fund, gratuity etc. with all consequential benefits. (ii) That the office order dated 13.9.2007 whereby the petitioner has been ordered to be adjusted in the respondent department may very kindly be quashed and set aside to the extent of terms and conditions of adjustment depriving the petitioner from the benefit of his past services rendered in the Fish Federation, Bilaspur towards length of service for the purpose of seniority and promotion, qualifying service for pension, gratuity, 3 provident fund and other service benefits with all consequential benefits. (iii) That the respondent may very kindly be directed to produce the entire record pertaining to the case of the petitioner for the kind perusal of this Court. 2. In paras-1 and 8 of the reply filed by respondent No.3, it is stated as follows:- Para-1. That the para No.1 of the writ petition is correct upto the extend that the petitioner is the resident of Himachal Pradesh and citizen of India. Rest of the para is wrong and denied. It is submitted that fund is not available with the Gobind Sagar Fisheries Cooperative Federation Ltd. Bilaspur, due to which the salary was not paid to the Employees. Moreover the amount of salary payable to employees of Fish Federation are outstanding in the Balance Sheet/Books of the Federation, but due to non- availability of funds the same cannot be released. It is also submitted that meanwhile vide H.P. Government Notification No.Fish-B-(6)-1/88 dated 8.1.2007 the orders for winding up the Fish Federation has been issued and as per orders 22 employees of the Federation were adjusted in the fisheries department and all the moveable and immovable assets of the aforesaid Federation have been ordered to be transfer to the department of Fisheries, Himachal Pradesh with immediate effect. Para-8. The contents of this para of the writ petition is wrong and denied. It is submitted that the Fish Federation Bilaspur has prepared a statement of salary and CPF payable to the employees. In the meantime the Fish Federation, Bilaspur winding up as per notification dated 8-01-07 bv the Government of Himachal Pradesh and all the moveable and immovable property/assets of Fish Federation, Bilaspur have been transferred to the Himachal Pradesh Fisheries Department , therefore, the liabilities are also to be disposed off out of the said sources and the Himachal Pradesh Fisheries Department has become responsible for clearance of all liabilities who has become owner of the property of Fish Federation, Bilaspur. 4 3. Respondents No.1 and 2 have filed a separate reply in CWP No.1051 of 2010. Paragraphs-1 and 4 of the reply on merits read as follows:- Para-1: The contents of this para are admitted to the extent that the petitioner is resident of Himachal Pradesh and citizen of India. However it is not true that the petitioner made aggrieved with the non counting of the services rendered by the petitioner in the Fish Federation, Bilaspur, H.P. towards service benefits in the respondent Department of Fisheries and denial of arrear of salary for the period from July, 2005 to July, 2007. The employees of winded up Fish Federation were absorbed in the fisheries Department with prospective effect i.e. from the date of joining in the Department. In compliance to the orders of the govt. contained in Notification No.Fish-C(1)-1/2003-Part-1 dated 8.1.2007, a case for clarification on various points was sent to Govt. vide letter No.FSH-B(15)-134/03-E-492 dated 17.1.2007 ( copy enclosed Annexure R-1). According to the instructions/conditions received from the Govt. vide letter No.Fish-C(1)-2/2003-1 dated 9th July, 2007 ( Copy enclosed Annexure R-II) the appointment order No.FSH-B(15)-134/03-E- 267/2007 dated 31.07-2007 was issued to the petitioner ( Copy enclosed R-III). After observation/consideration the petitioner has accepted the conditions of the offer given to him and joined his duty as Fisherman in the office of Assistant Director of Fisheries Mandi on dated 10-08-2007 (FN) without any protest. Hence Department of Fisheries H.P. is not responsible for the service benefits rendered in the Fish Federation and arrear of salary prior to absorption i.e. July, 2005 to July, 2007. Para-4: the contents of this para admitted to the extent that in pursuance of notification dated 8.1.2007 the petitioner has been adjusted in H.P. Fisheries Department with prospective effect. It is true that as per condition laid down in the above mentioned notification, the moveable and immoveable property of the Fish Federation was to be transferred in the name of Fisheries Department with immediate effect but the department of Fisheries is no way responsible for the huge financial liabilities of the wounded Federation. The moveable and immoveable property of Fish Federation has not been transferred to Fisheries Department so far by the concerned department. 5 4. It is the contention of the petitioners that since the assets of the Fish Federation have also been taken over by the Government, the service benefits due to the petitioners, in any case should be disbursed. It is submitted that since the winding up is in still progress, the matter has not been finalized by the Government. These writ petitions are disposed of, directing the first respondent to see that winding up is finalised within four months and thereafter claim of the petitioners regarding service benefits in respect of service rendered by them in Fish Federation shall be considered by the government within another two months. Two of the writ petitioners who request for an opportunity for hearing, shall be granted the same. Copy dasti (Justice Kurian Joseph), Chief Justice. (Justice Kuldip Singh), July 14, 2010 Judge. (sks/grs)