Letters Patent Appeal No. 481 of 1995 (O&M) 1 In the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, at Chandigarh. Letters Patent Appeal No. 481 of 1995 (O&M) Date of Decision: 13.8.2009 G.P. Verma and Others …Appellants Versus State of Haryana and Others …Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE T.S.THAKUR, CHIEF JUSTICE. HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE KANWALJIT SINGH AHLUWALIA. 1. Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment? 2. Whether to be referred to the reporters or not? 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest? Present: Mr. Manohar Lall, Advocate for the petitioners. Mr. Randhir Singh, Additional Advocate General, Haryana, for the respondents. T.S. Thakur, C.J. (Oral) Civil Misc. No. 980-LPA of 2009 Heard. For the reasons stated in the application which is supported by an affidavit, delay in filing of the application for restoration of appeal is condoned and the application is disposed of. Civil Misc. No. 981-LPA of 2009 Heard. Letters Patent Appeal No. 481 of 1995 (O&M) 2 For the reasons stated in the application, order dated 3.11.2004 dismissing the appeal in default is recalled and the appeal is restored to its original Number. Civil Misc. Application is disposed of. Letters Patent Appeal No. 481 of 1995 This appeal is directed against an order dated 3.2.1995 passed by a learned Single Judge of this Court whereby Writ Petition No.2536 of 1993 filed by the petitioners/appellants herein has been disposed of declining the prayer for grant of interest on the amounts payable to appellants towards arrears. The controversy in the writ petition as also in the present appeal arises in the following circumstances. By an order dated 27.2.1975 issued by Government of Haryana, it was directed that JBT Teachers borne on the provincialised cadre would be entitled to selection grade w.e.f. 1.10.1974 if they had completed 18 years of service. For those who had not completed 18 years of service, the same shall be granted w.e.f. the date they complete the said period. The petitioners, it is common ground, completed the requisite period of 18 years required for grant of selection grade on different dates between 30.9.1970 to 4.6.1974. Despite the completion of the said period, the petitioners appear to have remained oblivious of their entitlement to the grant of selection grade in their favour. Writ Petition No. 2536 of 1993 was eventually filed by them after three of the petitioners had already retired from service and Smt. Rosie Mathew, their colleague, had passed away. When the said petition came up for hearing before J.L.Gupta, J., as his Lordship then was, it was pointed out that petitioners No.1 to 4 had been granted Letters Patent Appeal No. 481 of 1995 (O&M) 3 selection grade from the dates due to them. In so far as petitioner No.5-appellant herein was concerned, it was stated that necessary orders granting selection grade could not be issued on account of non- availability of her service book. In that view, therefore, learned Single Judge was of the opinion that the writ petition had become infructuous as the prayer made in the same stood granted qua four of the petitioners/appellants herein. As regards appellant No.5, the Court directed the respondents to consider the case of the said petitioner for grant of relief within a period of three months. It is not a case of the appellants that appellant No.5 has not been granted benefit due to her on the basis of Government order, mentioned earlier and the directions issued by this Court. Mr.Lall, all the same, argued that learned Single Judge was not justified in declining the grant of interest on the amounts payable to the petitioners only because of the delay in the filing of the petition for the grant of selection grade to them. It was submitted that the State itself ought to have examined the eligibility of the petitioners/appellants for the grant of selection grade and given them the benefit once they completed the requisite period of 18 years of service. At any rate, learned Single Judge ought to have noticed that in Musaddi Lal v. State of Haryana and Others (Civil Writ Petition No. 2573 of 1980) another Single Bench had, in similar circumstances, granted benefit of the selection grade to JBT Teachers, on provincialised cadre, with interest on the arrears at the rate of 12% per annum. Mr. Lall also brought to our notice the decision of a Division Bench of this Court in Ram Lal and Others v. State of Haryana and Others (Civil Writ Petition No.3706 Letters Patent Appeal No. 481 of 1995 (O&M) 4 of 1992) whereunder 15 JBT Teachers who had also joined service prior to 1.10.1957 were held entitled to the grant of selection grade and arrears with interest on the analogy of the directions issued in Musaddi Lal's case (supra). Mr. Lall contended that the learned Single Judge was not justified in ignoring the said decisions which were binding upon the Court while declining interest simply because there was delay in filing of the petition. On behalf of respondents, Mr. Randhir Singh contended that interest could not be granted to the petitioners who had themselves slept over the matter for about 18 years before coming to this Court. At any rate, interest ought to be restricted to a period of three years from the date the writ petition was filed, the rest having become barred by limitation. We have given our careful consideration to the submissions made by learned counsel for the parties, and perused the record. The question whether JBT Teachers on provincialised cadre are entitled to grant of a selection grade upon completion of 18 years of service was answered by the Hon'ble Supreme Court for the first time in JBT Rajkia Adhyapak Sangh and Another v. State of Haryana and Others (Civil Writ Petition No. 1652 of 1986) decided on 20.3.1990 and by this Court in Musaddi Lal v. State of Haryana and Others (Civil Writ Petition No. 2573 of 1980), referred to earlier. In Musaddi Lal's case, the Court had directed grant of selection grade and payment of arrears with interest at the rate of 12% per annum. To the same effect was the direction issued by the Division Bench of this Court in Ram Lal and Others v. State of Haryana and Others (Civil Writ Petition Letters Patent Appeal No. 481 of 1995 (O&M) 5 No.3706 of 1992) in which JBT Teachers on provincialised cadre were held entitled to the grant of selection grade upon completion of 18 years and payment of arrears with interest at the rate of 12% per annum. It is noteworthy that while Musaddi Lal v. State of Haryana and Others (Civil Writ Petition No. 2573 of 1980), was filed in the year 1980, Ram Lal and Others v. State of Haryana and Others (Civil Writ Petition No.3706 of 1992) came to be filed in the year 1992 i.e. just a year before the writ petition filed by the appellants in the instant case. Grant of interest on the arrears payable to JBT Teachers, similarly situate who filed writ petition in the year 1992 and denying the same to those who came to the Court in the year 1993, would be manifestly unfair to the latter. That apart it may not be correct to hold that there was a delay of 18 years in the filing of the petition as was observed by learned Single Judge. The question, whether JBT Teachers in the provincialised cadre were entitled to the benefit of interest, was answered by the Hon'ble Supreme Court for the first time in March 1990 in Writ Petition No. 1652 of 1986, filed under Article 32 of the Constitution by the JBT Rajkia Adhyapak Sangh and another. The State of Haryana, in that case, was directed to release selection grade to such of the teachers as have completed 18 years of service before 1.1.1987. The delay, if any, could, therefore, be counted only from year 1990 when the right to the selection grade was first recognized judicially. Suffice it to say that as the teachers similarly situate have been given benefit of interest on the arrears, we see no reason to deny the same to the present appellants. We, accordingly, allow the appeal and direct that the Letters Patent Appeal No. 481 of 1995 (O&M) 6 appellants shall be entitled to arrears of selection grade with interest at the rate of 12% per annum on the analogy of order passed by this Court in Musaddi Lal v. State of Haryana and Others (Civil Writ Petition No. 2573 of 1980), and Ram Lal and Others v. State of Haryana and Others (Civil Writ Petition No.3706 of 1992), referred to earlier. The partied are directed to bear their own costs. (T.S.Thakur) Chief Justice (Kanwaljit Singh Ahluwalia) Judge August 13, 2009 “DK”