Civil Writ Petition No.14687 of 2008 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Civil Writ Petition No.14687 of 2008 Decided on : 18-09-2009 Madan Lal & another .... Petitioner VERSUS The Punjab State Electricity Board, Patiala & others .... Respondents CORAM:- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SATISH KUMAR MITTAL. Present:- Mr. Dharam Pal, Advocate, for the petitioners. Mr. Mukesh Berry, Advocate, for the respondents. SATISH KUMAR MITTAL, J (Oral). The petitioners, who are two in numbers and working as LDCs in the office of respondent-Board, have filed the instant petition for quashing order dated 25.7.2008 (Annexure P-6), whereby the recovery of Rs.92,929/- and Rs.95,317/- has been ordered against the petitioners respectively. It is the case of the petitioners that they were working on Class IV posts and thereafter, they were promoted on the post of Lower Division Clerk against the 20% quota meant for Class IV employees vide orders dated 27.12.1999 and 6.8.1999 (Annexures P-1 & P-2) respectively. After their promotion, they Civil Writ Petition No.14687 of 2008 -2- were granted annual grade increments from the date of their promotion. Subsequently, in the year 2007, on the audit objection it was found that since the petitioners have not passed the Computer Literacy Test, therefore, they were not entitled for the said benefit. Consequently, the aforesaid recovery was ordered against the petitioners. Learned counsel for the petitioners has argued that the said recovery order was passed on 25.7.2008, whereas the petitioners have already passed the said Computer Literacy Test on 19.7.2007. He submits that no recovery can be made from the petitioners with regard to the excess amount already paid to them. He has further submitted that the petitioners did not play any fraud or made any misrepresentation at the time of grant of annual grade increments. In support of his contention, counsel has relied upon the judgment passed by the Full Bench of this Court in C.W.P. No.2799 of 2008, decided on 22.5.2009 (Budh Ram and others Vs. State of Haryana and others). He has also pointed out that a similarly situated employee has filed a Civil Writ Petition No.11541 of 2006, decided on 29.3.2007 titled as Vipin Kumar Vs. Punjab State Electricity Board & others, in which this Court has directed the respondents not to effect any recovery from the petitioner on the aforesaid account. Learned counsel for the respondents has very fairly stated that the petitioners did not play any fraud or made any misrepresentation at the time of grant of annual grade increments. Civil Writ Petition No.14687 of 2008 -3- In view of this conceded position, I am of the opinion that no recovery can be made from the petitioners. Consequently, this writ petition is allowed and the order dated 25.7.2008 (Annexure P-6) is hereby set aside. 18th September, 2009. (SATISH KUMAR MITTAL) Monika JUDGE