IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATES OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH CWP No.399 of 1994 Date of decision : 08.3.2010 Amar Nath … Petitioner Versus The State of Haryana and another …Respondents CORAM : HON’BLE MR.JUSTICE PERMOD KOHLI Present: Mr.P.N.Arora, Advocate for the petitioner. Mr.R.S.Kundu, Addl. Advocate General, Haryana. Permod Kohli, J. (Oral) The petitioner served in armed forces as Combatant Clerk w.e.f. 6.12.1965 to 31.12.1984. On being discharged from armed service, he joined the civil service welfare department of Haryana as Clerk on 7.1.1987. Services of the petitioner were regularized w.e.f. 1.1.1991 vide order dated 5.6.1991. Govt. of India issued letter dated 11.4.1963 regarding fixation of pay of Ex- Combatant clerks retired/released from the armed forces on the re-employment as L.D.C./Junior clerk in the Civil posts. The relevant abstract of the letter is reproduced hereunder:- “It has been decided as a special case, that service rendered as Combatant clerk (Sepoy) above and now equivalent ranks in Navy and Air Force, may be treated as equivalent to service as IDCs/ Junior clerks in Civil irrespective of the pay drawn in the Armed Forces and that when such persons are absorbed in posts in LDCs/ junior clerks in civil Departments after their release/retirement from the Armed Forces, their initial pay in the posts of LDCs/ Junior Clerks may be fixed at a higher stage in the scale above the minimum equal to the number of completed years of service as Combatant Clerk.” In view of the above, the petitioner was entitled to the pay fixation at the higher level keeping in view the number of completed years as CWP No.399 of 1994 Combatant clerk. The petitioner made a representation to the respondents on 17.12.1991 for granting benefit of army clerical service towards civil service on the basis of letter Annexure P-2. The claim of the petitioner has been rejected vide letter dated 2.8.1993 by a totally non-speaking order. The petitioner has challenge the aforesaid order in the present writ petition. On being put to notice, the respondents have justified the impugned order only on the ground that the petitioner was not Combatant Clerk but was a Hawaldar clerk. In response thereto, petitioner has placed on record the rejoinder accompanied with certificate dated 21.4.1994 issued by the Assistant Secretary Zila Sainik Board Jind. As per this certificate, the petitioner served in the Defence Forces from 6.12.1965 to 31.12.1984 as Combatant Clerk. The respondents have not placed any material on record to rebut the pleadings in the writ petition as also the aforesaid certificate. Circular (Annexure P-2) clearly provides for re-fixation of the salary in higher scale by giving benefit of number of years completed as Combatant Clerk. The petitioner has put 19 years service as Combatant Clerk. In view of the Govt. instructions, the petitioner is entitled to the benefits of service of armed forces for fixing of his pay for the period he served in the civil department as a clerk. Neither the existence nor the application of the government circular has been disputed by the respondents. In view of the above, this petition is allowed. Impugned order dated 2.8.1993 is hereby quashed and respondents are directed to grant the benefits of the Armed Force Service rendered by petitioner in terms of Govt. of India’s letter dated 11.4.1963 from the date of his recruitment in the welfare department of Haryana as Clerk on 7.1.1987. However, arrears shall be restricted to three years preceding the filing of this petition. The petitioner has 2 CWP No.399 of 1994 retired from the service. He shall be entitled to the consequential retiral benefits. Let the claim of the petitioner be determined and paid within a period of four months from the date of receipt of the copy of this order. [ Permod Kohli ] Judge 08.3.2010 sd 3