IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH 1. Civil Writ Petition No.6981 of 1990 Surinder Mohan Saini and others … Petitioners Versus State of Haryana and another … Respondents 2. Civil Writ Petition No.15668 of 1990 Janak Dulari … Petitioner Versus State of Haryana and another … Respondents 3. Civil Writ Petition No.12862 of 1991 Janardhan Dass Gupta and others … Petitioners Versus State of Haryana and another … Respondents Date of decision: 9th December, 2010 CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE KANWALJIT SINGH AHLUWALIA Present: None for the petitioners. Mr. K.C. Bhatia, Addl. AG Haryana for the State. KANWALJIT SINGH AHLUWALIA, J. (ORAL) By this common order, three writ petitions viz. (1) CWP No.6981 of 1990 titled as ‘Surinder Mohan Saini and others v. State of Haryana and another’; (2) CWP No.15668 of 1990 titled as ‘Janak Dulari v. State of Haryana and another’ and (3) CWP No.12862 of 1991 titled as ‘Janardhan Dass Gupta and others v. State of Haryana and another’ shall be decided altogether. Civil Writ Petitions No.6981 and 15668 of 1990 and 12862 of 1991 For facility of reference, the facts are culled-out from CWP No.6981 of 1990. Eight petitioners have averred that they were working as Clerks in the office of Deputy Commissioner, Ambala. It is further averred that they were discharging their duties as such from the year 1983-84. The petitioners were drawing fixed medical allowance at the rate of Rs.30/- per month as per communication (Annexure P-1) dated 21st December, 1988. From the month of April 1990, the fixed medical allowance of Rs.30/- per month given to the petitioners, was abruptly stopped. They have approached this Court with a prayer that the fixed medical allowance be paid to them, as it is being paid to the other employees of the State. The stand taken by the State of Haryana is that the adhoc- employees are not entitled to fixed medical allowance as per communication (Annexure R-2) dated 11th July, 1990. The relevant portion of the communication (Annexure R-2) reads as under: “2. It is to inform you fixed medical allowance of Rs.30/- will not be paid to the employees working on Adhoc basis. Please pursue the case accordingly.” In CWP No.12868 of 1991, a similar prayer has been made by 58 employees of the State of Haryana and a similar stand has been taken by State. CWP No.15668 of 1990 has been preferred by Janak Dulari, who was posted as a Lecturer in English in Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Ambala City. She has also been denied the fixed medical allowance on the ground that she was an adhoc employee. A Division Bench of this Court, while admitting CWP No.6981 of 1990, on 5th November, 1990, ordered that the State shall continue to give the medical allowance to the petitioners and other 2 Civil Writ Petitions No.6981 and 15668 of 1990 and 12862 of 1991 similarly situated employees without break till the decision of the writ petition. In the other two writ petitions also, an interim relief was granted in same terms as in CWP No.6981 of 1990. There is no doubt that in the last 18 years, the petitioners have been regularized and have become permanent/regular employees of the State of Haryana. Counsel for the State is not able to acquaint this Court whether the petitioners have been regularized or not. If the fixed medical allowance has already been paid to the petitioners in compliance with the interim orders passed by a Division Bench of this Court, in view of the ratio of law laid down by a Full Bench of this Court in ‘Budh Ram and others v. State of Haryana and others’ 2009(3) SCT 333, no recovery can be effected from them and once they have become regular employees of the State of Haryana they are entitled to the fixed medical allowance in their own right, from the day of regularization. Hence, the aforesaid three writ petitions are hereby disposed of with a direction to the respondents that till the petitioners remained adhoc employees, they will be entitled to the fixed medical allowance and if it has already been paid to them in terms of the interim orders passed by a Division Bench of this Court, no recovery shall be effected from them. [KANWALJIT SINGH AHLUWALIA] JUDGE December 9, 2010 rps 3