C.W.P.No.435 of 2007 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH C.W.P.No.435 of 2007 Date of Decision : 22.01.2008 Asha Rani .....Petitioner versus Haryana Power Generation Corpn.& Ors .....Respondents CORAM : HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE HEMANT GUPTA HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE MOHINDER PAL Present : Shri Karamveer Singh, Advocate for the petitioner. Shri Narender Hooda, Advocate for respondent Nos.1 to 4. -.- 1. Whether Reporters of Local papers may be allowed to see the judgment? 2. To be referred to the Reporters or not? 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest? JUDGMENT HEMANT GUPTA, J. The challenge in the present writ petition is to the order dated 8.9.2006, Annexure P-6, whereby claim of the petitioner for family pension has been declined by respondent No.3 on the ground that deceased husband of the petitioner has served the Corporation for less than one year after regularization of his services. Shri Azad Singh, husband of the petitioner was appointed on the post of Workcharge Fitter on 11.3.1980. He was promoted as Workcharge Assistant, Thermal Operator on 30.6.1980. The services of Azad Singh were regularized on the post of Apprentice Junior Engineer on 14.7.1986. As per the terms and conditions of regularization, the husband of the petitioner was to report on duty after getting himself examined by C.W.P.No.435 of 2007 2 Chief Medical Officer-cum-Civil Surgeon, Panipat. The husband of the petitioner joined the duty on the post of Apprentice Junior Engineer after getting himself examined by the Civil Surgeon, Panipat. Azad Singh, husband of the petitioner died on 19.2.1987 when he was going to office. The petitioner was not granted family pension in terms of the Family Pension Scheme, 1964, applicable to the respondents. The claim of the petitioner for family pension was considered in pursuance of the legal notice served. The same was declined by the respondents vide order dated 8.9.2006 for the reasons that as per the Rule, the family pension is to be given to those employees who have completed one year regular service and that the Workcharge service is not countable towards pensionary benefits. Learned counsel for the petitioner has challenged the aforesaid order, inter alia, on the ground that the Workcharge service is to be counted for the pensionary benefits in terms of the Division Bench judgment of this Court passed in “Civil Writ Petition No.18692 of 2005, titled as Ram Kali Devi Versus Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited and others, decided on 15.9.2006” . In the said case, in identical terms, the Division Bench of this Court found that the petitioner fulfills all the conditions of Family Pension Scheme, 1964. In the aforesaid case, Dalel Singh, husband of the petitioner Ram Kali Devi was appointed as a Workcharge T-Mate on 14.7.1968. He was later on promoted as Workcharge Assistant Lineman in February, 1979. His services were regularized on the post of Assistant Lineman subject to certain terms and conditions. He was asked to report on duty after getting himself examined by the Chief Medical Officer/Civil C.W.P.No.435 of 2007 3 Surgeon, Sonepat. Dalel Singh joined his duty in February, 1979 after his medical examination. He died on 18.8.1979. The request of the petitioner for family pension was declined which led to filing of the writ petition which was allowed by this Court on 15.9.2006. The only argument raised by learned counsel for the respondents to resist the claim of the petitioner is that the petitioner has not attached any medical certificate of the medical examination of her husband by the Chief Medical Officer/Civil Surgeon, Panipat. Having heard learned counsel for the parties at some length, we do not find any merit in the stand taken by learned counsel for the respondents. Rule 4 of the Family Pension Scheme, 1964 contemplates ground of family pension where a Government employee completes one year of continues service without break. The note appended to such clause contains the stipulation that the family pension is admissible even before one year continues service, provided the deceased Government employee was examined by the appropriate Medical Authority and declared fit by that Authority for Government service. There is categorical stand of the present petitioner that her husband was medically examined before he was promoted and joined duties. Since the medical examination was a condition of appointment on regular basis, the same must have been complied with. There is presumption of correctness to the official work carried out by the respondents. Still further, the medical examination report cannot be produced by the wife of the deceased employee. The respondents are the custodian of the record and, therefore, the reply given to para-2 of the writ petition is nothing but C.W.P.No.435 of 2007 4 evasive. It is not possible to infer that deceased-husband of the petitioner was permitted to join on regularization without medical examination. Therefore, the principles laid down by the Division Bench of this Court in Ram Kali Devi's case (supra) are applicable to the present case in its entirety. Consequently, we set aside the order dated 8.9.2006, Annexure P-6 and direct the respondents to make the payment of retiral benefits including the family pension, to the petitioner within a period of 3 months from today. If the payments are not made within 3 months from today, the petitioner shall be entitled to interest @ 9% per annum from the date the amount fell due till its payment. With the aforesaid directions, the present writ petition is disposed of. (HEMANT GUPTA) JUDGE 22-01-2008 (MOHINDER PAL) *mohinder JUDGE