IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATES OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH CWP No.4820 of 2009 (O&M) Date of decision : 10.5.2010 Mulkh Raj Batra and others … Petitioners Versus State of Punjab and others …Respondents CORAM : HON’BLE MR.JUSTICE PERMOD KOHLI Present: Mr.B.S.Walia, Advocate with Mr.O.P.Sharma, Advocate for the petitioners. Ms.Kavita Arora, AAG, Punjab. Mr.Anand Chhibbar, Advocate for respondent No.3. Permod Kohli, J. (Oral) The petitioners were serving as Judicial Officers in the State of Punjab. Before the 3rd Pay Commission, they were placed in the pay scale of Rs.940-1850/- and Selection Grade of Rs.2000-2400/- The Selection was admissible to 20% of the officers in the cadre on completion of 12 years of service as Subordinate Judges. On the recommendation of the 3rd Pay Commission, the pay scale of the govt. employees serving in the State of Punjab in general, came to be revised w.e.f. 1.1.1986 by virtue of rules namely Punjab Civil Services (Revised Pay), Rules, 1988 notified vide notification dated 9.9.1988. It is relevant to note that in the aforesaid pay rules, there was no specific provision for revision of the pay scale in respect to the Punjab Civil Services (Judicial Branch) and it was notified that their pay scales shall be separately provided but no notification was issued in this regard. The State Government however, issued notification dated 23.6.1989 amending Punjab Civil Services (Judicial Branch) Rules, 1951 namely Punjab Civil Services (Judicial Branch) (Second Amendment) Rules, 1989 CWP No.4820 of 2009 (O&M) providing the revised pay structure for the Punjab Civil Service (Judicial Branch). The revised pay scales under the amended rules were Rs.3000- 4500/- and Selection grade of Rs.4125-5600/- after completion of 18 years of service on or after the 1st day of January, 1986. Proviso to the aforesaid amended rules lay down that officer who became entitled to Selection grade and has been granted, the same under the rules in force immediately, before the publication of the Punjab Civil Services (Judicial Branch) (Second Amendment) Rules, 1989, shall be entitled to revised Selection Grade with effect from the first day of January, 1986 or from the date it became due to him. Under the revised, Rule 5(2), the State Govt. officer/officials were allowed to exercise their option for revised pay scale before 31.12.1987. Since the pay scales in respect of the Punjab Civil Services (Judicial Branch) came to be revised only by virtue of the subsequent notification dated 23.6.1989, Judicial officers could not exercise option in terms of rule 5(2). The controversy regarding exercise of option by Judicial Officers came to be decided by this Court in case CWP No.16450 of1993 titled as Om Parkas Goyal Vs. The State of Punjab, decided on 19.7.1995. It has been held that the petitioner is entitled to get his pay fixed in the revised scale w.e.f. April 1, 1990. On the basis of the aforesaid judgment, the High Court vide its letter dated 12.7.2005, requested the State Govt. to grant sanction/approval for exercise of option beyond 23.6.1989 to 12 judicial officers as they were found entitled to opt for revised scale w.e.f. January 1, 1990 ( or any other corresponding date) as the date w.e.f. which date their basic pay is to be refixed in the revised selection grade of Rs.4125-5600/- . Request of the High Court, has now been responded to by the State Govt. 2 CWP No.4820 of 2009 (O&M) vide its letter dated 9.10.2009 (P-15). Through this communication, claim of the petitioners for revised pay scale w.e.f. 1.1.1990 has been accepted but the petitioners have been denied the interest on the arrears. The principal relief as claimed in the writ petition stands granted. Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that denial of interest is totally illegal. The State Govt. by its inaction has deprived the petitioners of their legitimate claim for number of years, thus, the petitioner are entitled to the interest on delayed payment. To support the claim of interest, reliance is placed on the judgment of Hon’ble Supreme Court in case Joginder Singh Wasu Vs. The State of Punjab, 1994(1) SLR, SC, 3 wherein the Supreme Court has allowed the interest on the delayed payment withheld without any lawful reason. In view of the above, this petition is allowed. The petitioners shall be entitled to the interest on the arrears with effect from the date it is due as already approved/granted vide communication dated 9.10.2009 at the rate of 9%. Let the interest be calculated and pay the same to the petitioners within a period of three months from today. [ Permod Kohli ] Judge 10.5.2010 sd 3