Civil Writ Petition No.751 of 2003 -: 1 :- IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATES OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Civil Writ Petition No.751 of 2003 Date of decision: September 14, 2010. Shobha Ram Raturi ...Petitioner(s) v. Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Limited & Ors. ...Respondent(s) CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE KANWALJIT SINGH AHLUWALIA Present: Shri K.G. Chaudhary, Advocate, for the petitioner(s). Shri D.S. Rawat, Advocate, for the respondents. Kanwaljit Singh Ahluwalia , J. (Oral): Petitioner, who was posted as a Commercial Assistant, in a Sub Division of Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited, has prayed for issuance of a writ in the nature of certiorari thereby quashing the order dated 31.12.2002 (Annexsure P-4) whereby he was compulsorily retired on attaining the age of 55 years on the ground that his service record was not good and, therefore, he could not continue in service till the age of superannuation. He further prays for issuance of a writ of mandamus directing the respondents to allow the petitioner to continue in service till he attains the age of superannuation. Briefly stated, petitioner joined the respondent-Department as Upper Division Clerk on 2.2.1968. Thereafter, he was promoted as Civil Writ Petition No.751 of 2003 -: 2 :- Commercial Assistance on 5.1.1972. The date of birth of the petitioner is 19.9.1947. He completed 55 years of age on 19.9.2002. On completion of 55 years of age, petitioner, as required under Rules, applied for extension of his service beyond the age of 55 years. However, the respondents vide Annexure P-4 compulsorily retired the petitioner on 31.12.2002. In response to the writ petition, respondents have provided a chart in para 2 of the written statement regarding the details of annual confidential reports for the last 15 years. It is not disputed that for 5 years preceding the date of his retirement, i.e., from 1997 onwards, the service record of the petitioner was good. The chart is reproduced below:- Year Period Overall assessment Integrity 1997-98 1.4.1997 to Under suspension - 31.3.1998 1998-99 1.4.1998 to Under suspension - 5.11.1998 6.11.1998 to Good Honest 9.2.1999 1999-2000 Good Honest 2000-2001 Good Honest 2001-2002 Good Honest Counsel for the petitioner has relied upon a Division Bench judgment of this Court in CWP No.3164 of 2001 (Rajpal Singh v. Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Limited) decided on May 07, 2001, (Annexure P- 10), wherein a Division Bench of this Court in its concluding portion has held as under:- “It was laid down that overall picture has to be seen in the last ten years with more emphasis on the last five years without any Civil Writ Petition No.751 of 2003 -: 3 :- mathematical exactitude. In the present case in the last five years, the petitioner has shown improvement in his work by getting consistently good reports. If he is made to retire now, his effort to improve would become otiose. After all it is a case of retention in service and not of promotion. The person with such a record as the petitioner cannot be dubbed as a dead wood which has to be chopped off.” Counsel for the respondents is not able to distinguish the judgment Annexure P-10 rendered by a Division Bench of this Court in Rajpal Singh's case (supra). Therefore, this Court has no option but to allow the present writ petition and quash the order dated 31.12.2002 (Annexure P-4). Accordingly, the present writ petition is allowed; order dated 31.12.2002 (Annexure P-4) is quashed. The petitioner would be treated to be in continuous service with all consequential benefits. However, it is clarified that since the petitioner has not worked on the post, maxim of “no work, no pay” shall apply and the consequential benefits shall only be determined towards terminal benefits. However, there will be no order as to costs. [Kanwaljit Singh Ahluwalia] September 14, 2010. Judge kadyan