CWP No.5127 of 2008 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH. C.W.P.No. 5127 of 2008 Date of decision 24.9.2008 Kamlesh Goyal and others ...Petitioners Versus State of Punjab and another ... Respondents. CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE M.M. KUMAR HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAKESH KUMAR GARG Present: None for the petitioner. Mr. Suvir Sehgal, Addl. AG Punjab.. 1. Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgement ? 2. To be referred to the Reporter or not ? 3. Whether the judgement should be reported in the Digest ? M.M.KUMAR, J. In this petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution a prayer has been made for issuance of direction to respondents to grant pensionary benefits to the petitioners in pursuance to the Pension Scheme known as Punjab Privately Managed Recognised Aided Retirement Benefit Scheme, 1992. The petitioners have claimed that they are fully eligible and entitled for the release of pensionary benefits under the afore-mentioned scheme. However, they have been subjected to discrimination by letter dated 16.7.2003 ( Annexure P.8) whereby the Director Public Instructions (Secondary Education) issued directions to the District Education Officer that pension cases of those employees retired from aided schools after 1.6.2003 be not sent to his office . The petitioners have also claimed that the controversy raised by the issuance of letter dated 16.7.2003 have already been considered by a Division Bench of this Court in a bunch of petitions CWP No.5127 of 2008 2 and the main judgement has been rendered in CWP No. 11553 of 2004 decided on 27.9.2005 ( Samdhershi Kumar Bedi v. State of Punjab) (Annexure P.9). The concluding para of the judgement rendered by the Division Bench reads as under: “In view of the above we allow these writ petitions. The letter dated 16.7.2003 ( Annexurew P.9) is hereby quashed. All the petitioners who fall within the erstwhile 1992 scheme i.e. they were in service on 5.2.1987 and had opted for the pension scheme are held entitled to the grant of pension under the aforesaid Scheme. Let the pensionary benefits be released to the petitioners and all the other similarly situated employees of the aided schools irrespective of whether they have retired before or after 31.5.2003. Let the benefits be released within a period of two months from today.” The stand of the respondents in the written statement is that the Scheme stand repealed and the petitioners who have retired after 31.5.2003 are not entitled to any pensionary benefits. With regard to the view taken by the Division Bench it has been asserted that the S.L.P. stands filed which is pending consideration of their Lordships of Hon'ble the Supreme Court. After hearing learned counsel for the respondents and perusing the paper book we are of the considered view that the matter is squarely covered by the decision of Division Bench rendered in Samdhershi Kumar Bedi's case (supra). The argument that S.L.P. is pending does not advance the case of the respondents because neither leave to appeal has been granted nor any interim order staying the operation of the judgement has been passed by Hon'ble the Supreme Court. Accordingly, the writ petition is CWP No.5127 of 2008 3 allowed in terms of the judgement of the Division Bench in Samdhershi Kumar Bedi's case (supra) (Annexure P.9). The petitioners are held entitled to all the benefits in accordance with the directions issued in the aforesaid case irrespective of the fact whether they have retired before or after 31.5.2003. The benefits be released to the petitioners within a period of two months from the date of receipt of certified copy of this order. (M.M.Kumar) Judge (Rakesh Kumar Garg) 24 .9.2008 Judge okg