Civil Writ Petition No. 5685 of 1990 Civil Writ Petition No. 5780 of 1990 & Civil Writ Petition No. 17160 of 1996 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Civil Writ Petition No. 5685 of 1990 Date of decision: 14.12.2010 Nand Kishore and others ..... Petitioners. Versus The Punjab State Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd. and another ..... Respondents. (2) Civil Writ Petition No. 5780 of 1990 Date of decision: 14.12.2010 Jagat Singh and others ..... Petitioners. Versus The State of Punjab and others ..... Respondents. (3) Civil Writ Petition No. 17160 of 1996 Date of decision: 14.12.2010 Tarsem Singh and others ..... Petitioners. Versus The State of Punjab and others ..... Respondents. Civil Writ Petition No. 5685 of 1990 Civil Writ Petition No. 5780 of 1990 & Civil Writ Petition No. 17160 of 1996 -2- CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE M. JEYAPAUL Present:- Mr. I.D. Singla, Advocate for the petitioners in CWP No. 5685 of 1990. Mr. P.K. Goklaney, Advocate for the petitioners in CWP No. 5780 of 1990 and CWP No.17160 of 1996. Mr. Akshdeep Singh Mann, AAG, Punjab, for the respondent-State. Mr. Arun Walia, Advocate with Mr. Amit Sharma, Advocate for PUNSUP. M. Jeyapaul, J(Oral). Heard the submissions made on either sides. The grievance of the petitioners in all the three writ petitions is that the respondents are taking steps to recover the house rent allowance paid in addition to 5% of the basic pay in lieu of the rent free accommodation. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in Civil Appeal No. 7567 of 2002, PSEB and another vs. Som Nath and others, decided on 18.05.2006, reiterating the decision taken in Mohinder Singh v. State of Punjab and others, (SLP(c) No.9149 of 1992 decided on 21.4.1995) has held that the benefit of protection class is available to the employees posted Civil Writ Petition No. 5685 of 1990 Civil Writ Petition No. 5780 of 1990 & Civil Writ Petition No. 17160 of 1996 -3- within the radius of 10 miles/16 Kms. from the international border of Pakistan. The Hon'ble Supreme Court has further held that the order dated 07.03.1989 clearly protects the higher house rent allowance drawn by the employees of the Board under the existing orders upto 31.08.1988. The clarificatory circular dated 19.09.1990 issued by the State Government and adopted by the Board by circular dated 29.05.1992, does not cancel or delete the protection class in regard to the higher house rent allowance extended under order dated 07.03.1989. Pursuant to the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in PSEB & Anr.'s case (supra), the Government of Punjab has issued clarificatory instructions to all the Heads of Departments on 06.02.2008 that irrespective of the earlier instructions issued from time to time by the Government of Punjab, no recovery shall be made from any officials on account of house rent allowance drawn in excess. In view of the aforesaid clarificatory instructions issued by the Government of Punjab in the light of the above decisions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court, the learned Assistant Public Prosecutor for the respondent-State as well as for PUNSUP would submit that the proposal initiated against the petitioners to recover the excess house rent allowance drawn by them has been dropped. Civil Writ Petition No. 5685 of 1990 Civil Writ Petition No. 5780 of 1990 & Civil Writ Petition No. 17160 of 1996 -4- In view of the above development in this matter, the respondents are directed not to initiate any proposal to recover the excess house rent drawn by the petitioners. All these writ petitions stand disposed of accordingly. (M. Jeyapaul) Judge 14.12.2010 dinesh Whether to be referred to the Reporters or not? (Yes/No)