GAUHATI HIGH COURT ISSUES ORDER FOR MANDRILA BASUMATARY V/S STATE OF ASSAM AND 6 ORS.

GUWAHATI, India, Sept. 28 -- Gauhati High Court issued the following order on Aug. 28:

1. Heard Mr. S. Das, learned counsel for the petitioner; Mr. P. Nayak, learned Additional Advocate General, Assam along with Mr. R. Dhar, learned Standing Counsel, Public Works Department [PWD] for the respondent nos. 1 to 6; and Mr. B. Das, learned counsel representing Mr. B. Sarma, learned Standing Counsel, Accountant General [A&E] for the respondent no. 7.

2. The petitioner herein is the widow of one Late Bidang Basumatary.

3. The instant writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India is preferred by the petitioner as the widow of Late Bidang Basumatary seeking a direction to the respondent authorities to grant pension and other benefits for the services rendered by the petitioner's husband as a Work-Charged employee under the Public Works Department [Building], Kokrajhar Building Division, Kokrajhar till his death. Another Directions have also been sought for regularization of the services of the petitioner's husband at least for one day prior to his death and to consider the service period rendered by the petitioner's deceased husband as a Work-Charged employee as qualifying service.

4. The basis for seeking the above reliefs is an Office Order no. 128 of 1998-99 dated 20.06.1998, whereby and whereupon the petitioner's husband came to be appointed as a Work-Charged Section Assistant. By the Office Order, Late Bidang Basumatary came to be appointed as a Work-Charged Section Assistant in the post of one Amdadur Rahman, another Work-Charged Section Assistant who had already been transferred from PWD [Building], Kokrajhar Building Division. The Office Order was issued under the hand of the Executive Engineer, PWD [Building], Kokrajhar Building Division. The Office Order further mentioned that Late Bidang Basumatary would be paid a Scale of Pay of Rs. 1065/-20-1225-30-1345-EB30-1435-40-1635-50-2035-60-2095/- per month plus other allowances, as admissible under the rules with effect from the date of joining and he was posted in the office of Gossaigaon PWD [Building] Sub-Division.

4.1. The further case of the petitioner is that the petitioner's husband, while working as a Work-Charged Section Assistant under the PWD [Building], Kokrajhar Building Division, expired on 26.02.2018 after continuously working for a period of 19 years 8 months 4 days.

5. The learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that since the petitioner's husband had rendered nearly twenty years of uninterrupted and continuous services as a Work-Charged employee in the Public Works Department [PWD], the services of the petitioner's husband are to be regularised at least for one day prior to his death and thereafter, grant pension and other benefits counting the period of services he had rendered during his lifetime as a qualifying service for the purpose of calculating the pensionary benefits.

6. To buttress his submissions, the learned counsel for the petitioner has referred to the decisions in Prem Singh vs. State of Uttar Pradesh and others, [2019] 10 SCC 516; and Habib Khan vs. State of Uttarakhand, [2018] 1 SLR 724. He has also referred to two instances wherein the respondent Public Works Department [PWD] had regularised the services of the deceased employees, who had died prior to regularization, by creating supernumerary posts for the purpose of regularisation of their services for one day in order to extend pensionary benefits to the families of those deceased employees. He has submitted that the petitioner's husband was appointed against a sanctioned post which was left vacant due to the transfer of another Work-Charged Section Assistant. It has been contended that the petitioner's husband was appointed against a sanctioned post is discernible from the fact that from time to time, the petitioner's husband's pay was revised from time to time.

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/ecourtindiaHC/cases/display_pdf.php?filename=U%2BbhtlrLe2adAHN8Tz%2F1d%2FhfG6QchXheg5B7LYcVbVENCzm464Sf3DmzZ8sUF%2F%2BF&caseno=WP(C)/5026/2020&cCode=1&cino=GAHC010169432020&state_code=6&appFlag=)

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