Civil Writ Petition No. 1260 of 2001 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Civil Writ Petition No. 1260 of 2001 Date of decision:- 18.7.2011 Madan Lal and others ...Petitioners Versus State of Punjab and others ...Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE RITU BAHRI Present:- Mr. Kailash Chander, Advocate for the petitioners. Mr. Sandeep Moudgil, DAG Punjab. RITU BAHRI J.(Oral) Petitioners have challenged the orders dated 19.8.1994 (Annexure P-7) and 18.12.1995 (Annexure P-12) whereby the claim of the petitioners for grant of additional pay of Rs.120/- on initial start of Rs.1920/- in the pay scale of Rs.1800-3200 w.e.f. 1.1.1986 has been rejected and further for issuing direction to the respondents to continue to pay the petitioners additional pay of Rs.120/- or initial start of Rs.1920/- in the scale of Rs.1800-3200 w.e.f. 1.1.1986 and further for quashing of orders dated 19.8.1994 (Annexure P-7) and order dated 18.12.1995 (Annexure P-12). Counsel for the petitioners contends that this case is covered by the judgment rendered in LPA No.724 of 2002 titled 'State of Punjab and others versus Palwinder Kaur and others' in CWP No.9264 of 1996 decided by the Division Bench of this Court, in which following order has been passed on 22.7.2002 :- “This appeal is directed against order dated 07.8.2001 Civil Writ Petition No. 1260 of 2001 -2- passed by the learned Single Judge vide which he disposed of Civil Writ Petition No.9264 of 1996 and ordered that the writ petitioners be given additional pay of Rs.120/- per month and at the same time, quashed orders dated 19.8.1994 and 18.12.1995. At the commencement of hearing, Shri S.S. Shergill, candidly and fairly stated that there was no justification for the State Government to file appeal against the order passed by the learned Single Judge on the basis of the statement made by counsel for the parties that the case of the writ petitioners is fully covered by the judgment of Sardari Lal and others versus State of Punjab and others 1996(3) SCT 17. He further stated that the interest of the State has been amply safeguarded by the learned Single Judge by giving liberty to it to file miscellaneous application for modification of the order passed by him in the event of review petition of the State accepted by the Supreme Court and submitted that he does not want to press the appeal. In view of the statement of the learned Senior Additional Advocate General, the appeal is dismissed as not pressed. However, we deem it proper to direct the Chief Secretary, Punjab to hold an enquiry into the circumstances which led to the filing of frivolous and vexatious appeal like the present one. It is expected that the Chief Secretary would fix the responsibility of the officer who took the decision to file appeal despite the contrary opinion expressed by the Advocate General. The cost of the litigation (appeal) may be recovered from the salary of the officer concerned irrespective of his status.” This judgment was challenged by the State of Punjab in the Supreme Court and vide order dated 28.4.2011 the Civil Appeal No.4184 of 2007 has been dismissed. This writ petition is allowed and orders dated 19.8.1994 Civil Writ Petition No. 1260 of 2001 -3- (Annexure P-7) and 18.12.1995 (Annexure P-12) are quashed and a direction is given to the respondents to grant the additional pay of Rs.120/- or initial start of Rs.1920/- in the pay scale of Rs.1800-3200 w.e.f. 1.1.1986. The petitioners will be entitled to arrears of the salary w.e.f. the date of filing of the writ petition. The arrears will be restricted to 38 months prior to filing of writ petition. July 18, 2011 ( RITU BAHRI ) Vijay Asija JUDGE