IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA LPA No.927 of 2007 BADRI NARAYAN MANDAL Versus THE SATE OF BIHAR & ORS ----------- For the appellant : Mr.Ashok Kumar Singh, Mr. R.P.Singh, Advocates For the respondents : Mr. Braj Kishore Prasad Sinha, Government Pleader-III Mr.Suryakant Kumar & Mrs.Sunita Kumari Junior Counsel to Government Pleader-III ------ P R E S E N T Hon'ble the Chief Justice & Hon'ble Mr. Justice Kishore K. Mandal ----- Dated, the 25th July, 2008 The counsel for the appellant would submit that there was no delay in filing the writ petition and the Single Judge was not justified in dismissing the writ petition on that account. He submitted that in the year 1997, the Union, namely Bihar State Khadi Gramudyog Board Karyakarta Sangh, filed a writ petition before this court for a direction to the respondents to make payment of salary of the Senior Fieldmen engaged in Bee-keeping Industries under the Bihar State Khadi and Village Industries Board and the said writ petition was disposed of on 21st of February, 2000. According to him, the State Government challenged the order dated 21st of February, 2000, before the Supreme Court in petition for Special Leave to - 2 - Appeal No.9602 of 2000. The said Petition for Special Leave to Appeal was dismissed on 12th of April, 2002 and immediately thereafter, the writ petition was filed by the present appellant. 2. We are afraid, the writ petition filed by the Union (Bihar State Khadi Gramudyog Board Karyakarta Sangh) has no relevance at all for the reliefs sought for by the petitioner in the writ petition. The petitioner in the writ petition has prayed for direction to the respondents for fixation of his pay scale in the scale of pay of Apiarist(2) with effect from 10th of January, 1991 as from that date he is said to have been working as such in view of the order of the Chief Executive Officer and further direction to pay arrears of difference of salary of Apiarist (2) and Senior Fieldman from January, 1991 to May, 1994 and total of the petitioner’s salary for the post of Apiarist(2) from June, 1994 till date. The Union approached this court for a direction to the respondents to make payment of salary of the Senior Fieldmen engaged in Bee-keeping Industries for the period after 1994 as according to them up to 1994, salary of Senior Fieldmen was paid to the concerned employees and thereafter it was stopped. 3. In the order dated 21st of February, 2000, the Single Judge observed thus: “ The grievance of the petitioner is that although the Senior Fieldmen working under the Khadi Board were paid their salary up to October, 1994, but no payment was made thereafter.” - 3 - 4. It is, thus, apparent that the controversy raised by the petitioner in the writ petition had no connection with the controversy raised in the writ petition by the Union. If the grievance of the petitioner was that having worked as Apiarist(2) with effect from 10th of January, 1991, he has not been paid salary of Apiarist (2), he ought to have approached the court if his grievance was not redressed by the employer within reasonable time. He waited for more than 10 years and it was only in the year 2002 that he had raised the grievance that direction be issued to the respondents for fixation of pay scale in the scale of pay of Apiarist(2). 5. In the circumstances, dismissal of writ petition by the Single Judge on the ground of laches cannot be faulted. 6. LPA does not deserve to be admitted. It is dismissed in limine. R.M. Lodha, CJ Kishore K. Mandal, J. sunil