IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Civil Writ Petition No.7019 of 2009 Date of Decision : December 13, 2010. Kulwinder Singh .....Petitioner versus Punjab State Electricity Board and another .....Respondents CORAM : HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE SURYA KANT. Present : Mr.R.S.Khural, Advocate, for the petitioner. Mr.Pavit Mattewal, Advocate, for the respondents. -.- 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? --- Surya Kant, J. (Oral) The petitioner seeks quashing of the order dated 16.10.2008 (Annexure P-10) whereby his request for exercising fresh option for the revised pay scales on his promotion to the post of Shift Chemist, has been turned down. Shorn of the details, suffice it to observe that the petitioner while working as a Laboratory Assistant in the respondent-Board, approached this Court alongwith 42 other Laboratory Assistants for the grant of higher revised pay scales w.e.f. 1.1.1996. Pursuant to the directions issued by this Court, the petitioner and other Laboratory Assistants were granted the higher pay scales w.e.f. 1.1.1996, i.e., a date C.W.P.No .7019 of 2009 2 prior to the petitioner's promotion as Shift Chemist w.e.f. 12.9.2000. As a result of the retrospective revision of the pay scale as Laboratory Assistant, the petitioner applied for allowing him to exercise fresh option but his request has been turned down vide the impugned order (Annexure P-10). The respondents have filed their reply-affidavit maintaining that the petitioner did not submit his option under the revised pay scales which came into force w.e.f. 1.1.1986 and 1.1.1996 and he cannot be permitted to change the option at this belated stage contrary to the instructions issued by the Board. During the course of hearing, I find that the controversy involved in this case stands answered in favour of the petitioner by this Court in more than one decisions, some of which have already been referred to in the order dated 22.9.2010 passed in Civil Writ Petition No.6308 of 2009 (Kuldip Singh versus Punjab State Electricity Board and another), whereby somewhat similar claim of similarly placed employees of the respondent-Board was accepted. For the reasons already assigned in Kuldip Singh's case (supra), the writ petition is allowed; the impugned order dated 16.10.2008 (Annexure P-10) is hereby quashed and the respondents are directed to allow the petitioner to exercise his fresh option within a period of two months from the date of receiving a certified copy of this order. Dasti. December 13, 2010 (SURYA KANT) Mohinder JUDGE