06 September 2011
Supreme Court
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STATE OF U.P. Vs NARENDRA BAHADUR SINGH .

Bench: MUKUNDAKAM SHARMA,ANIL R. DAVE, , ,
Case number: C.A. No.-007662-007662 / 2011
Diary number: 15787 / 2004
Advocates: PRADEEP MISRA Vs RACHNA GUPTA


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Civil Appeal No.  7662   of 2011 @  SLP(C) 19897/2004 1

ITEM NO.1               COURT NO.11             SECTION XI

           S U P R E M E   C O U R T   O F   I N D I A                          RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS                      Petition(s) for Special Leave to Appeal (Civil) No(s).19897/2004 (From  the  judgement  and  order  dated  07/04/2003  in   CMWP  No.20703/1997  of The HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD)

STATE OF U.P. & ANR.                              Petitioner(s)

                VERSUS

NARENDRA BAHADUR SINGH & ORS.                     Respondent(s) (With appln(s) for c/delay in filing SLP, exemption from filing  O.T., permission to place addl. documents on record, permission  for urging additional facts and office report)

Date: 06/09/2011  This Petition was called on for hearing today.

CORAM :         HON'BLE DR. JUSTICE MUKUNDAKAM SHARMA         HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANIL R. DAVE

For Petitioner(s)   Mr. S. R. Singh, Sr. Adv.   Mr. Shail Kumar Dwivedi, AAG.   Ms. Malvika Trivedi, Adv.   Mr. Suraj Singh, Adv.

                    Mr. Pradeep Misra, Adv.

For Respondent(s)    For RR No. 1         Ms. Rachna Gupta, Adv.

For RR No. 4   Ms. Shobha Dikshit, Sr. Adv.   Mr. T. Mahipal, Adv.   Mr. Daleep Dhyani, Adv.

          UPON hearing counsel the Court made the following                                O R D E R  

Delay condoned. Leave granted. For the reasons recorded in the signed order, the  

appeal  stands  allowed  to  the  extent  indicated  therein  leaving the parties to bear their own costs.

[KALYANI GUPTA]   [RENU DIWAN] COURT MASTER   COURT MASTER

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[SIGNED ORDER IS PLACED ON THE FILE.]

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

CIVIL APPEAL NO. 7662 OF 2011 ARISING OUT OF S.L.P. (C)  NO. 19897 OF 2004

STATE OF U.P. & ANR. ..... APPELLANTS

VERSUS

NARENDRA BAHADUR SINGH & ORS. ..... RESPONDENTS  

O R D E R

1. Delay condoned. 2. Leave granted.

3. The  present  appeal  is  directed  against  the  

judgment and order dated 7th April, 2003 passed by the  

Division Bench of the Allahabad High Court holding that  

respondent no. 1 herein would be entitled to get his past  

services  effective  from  1st September,  1970  to  10th  

September,  1973  rendered  in  the  office  of  State  

Agricultural Marketing Officer and the service rendered  

by him in Mandi Parishad effective from 11th September,  

1973  to  1st May,  1975  counted  alongwith  the  service  

rendered as Judicial Officer for the purpose of pension,  

gratuity etc.   

4. The appellant was appointed as Legal Assistant in

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the office of the State Marketing Officer and worked in  

the said post from 1st September, 1970 to 10th September,  

1973.   The  respondent  no.1  thereafter  submitted  his  

application  for  his  appointment  to  the  post  of  Legal  

Assistant which was forwarded to the Director (Mandis) in  

the Krishi Utpadan Mandi Parishad.  The said application  

of  the  respondent  no.1  was  forwarded  by  the  State  

Agricultural Marketing Officer, his erstwhile office by  

letter  dated  12th August,  1973.   A  copy  of  the  said  

letter which was addressed to the Director (Agriculture)  

was also sent to the respondent no. 1 with an intimation  

that if he is selected to the post for which he has  

submitted  the  application  in  Krishi  Utpadan  Mandi  

Parishad, in that event, he would have to resign from the  

said post and his lien would not be maintained in the  

Department.  Thereafter the respondent no. 1 was selected  

and was also appointed in Krishi Utpadan Mandi Parishad.  

He  then  resigned  from  his  earlier  post  in  State  

Agricultural Marketing Office and joined Krishi Utpadan  

Mandi Parishad on 11th September, 1973, wherein he worked  

till 1st May, 1975.   

5. While working as Legal Assistant in  the State  

Agricultural Marketing Office, certain vacancies for the  

post of Munsiff had arisen and therefore the respondent  

no. 1 submitted his application to one of the said posts

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while working in the above-said post.  He was selected  

and then appointed as a Munsiff in which post he joined  

on 2nd May, 1975 i.e. after resigning from the post of  

Legal Assistant of the Krishi Utapadan Mandi Parishad.  

The respondent no. 1 continued to work as a Judicial  

Officer till the date of his retirement.   

6. He,  however,  submitted  a  representation  on  11th  

May, 1992, praying for counting his past service that was  

rendered in State Agricultural Marketing Office and also  

in  Krishi  Utpadan  Mandi  Parishad  for  the  purpose  of  

computing his pension.  The aforesaid representation of  

the  respondent  no.  1  was  considered  by  the  State  

Government and the same was rejected by letter dated 7th  

July, 1997.  The Government of  Uttar Pradesh informed  

the Registry of the High Court that since the respondent  

no. 1 resigned from the post of Legal Assistant of State  

Agricultural Marketing Officer and remained with Krishi  

Utpadan Mandi Parishad  and thereafter again resigned to  

take up the Judicial Services it would not be possible to  

compute  his  past  services  rendered  in  Krishi  Utpadan  

Mandi Parishad for the purpose of computing pension.

7. Being aggrieved by the aforesaid stand taken by  

the State Government, the respondent no. 1 filed a writ  

petition in the Allahabad High Court which was registered  

as Civil Miscellaneous Writ Petition No. 20703 of 1997.

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The said writ petition was heard and was  disposed of by  

the  impugned  judgment  and  order  dated  7th April,  2003  

rendered by the High Court.  The High Court directed that  

the  past  service  rendered  by  the  appellant  to  the  

aforesaid  extent  be  computed  for  the  purpose  of  

computation  of  his  pension,  gratuity  etc.   Being  

aggrieved by the said Judgment and order passed by the  

High  Court,  the  present  appeal  has  been  preferred  on  

which we have heard the learned counsel appearing for the  

parties.   

8. The  issue,  therefore,  which  arises  for  our  

consideration  in  the  present  appeal  is  whether  the  

service  rendered by  the respondent  no. 1  on a   non-

pensionable post may be added to his continuous length of  

pensionable  services  for  the  purpose  of  calculating  

pension and gratuity.   

9. It is revealed from the records placed before us  

that the respondent no. 1 was working as Legal Assistant  

from 1st September, 1970 to 10th September, 1973.  He,  

however,  submitted  an  application  which  was  forwarded  

under  letter  dated  12th August,  1973.   In  the  said  

letter, it was clearly indicated that if the respondent  

no. 1 was selected to the post for which he has submitted  

an application in that event he would have to resign from  

the post of Legal Assistant in the Agricultural Marketing

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Section and that his lien would not be maintained in the  

Department.  Therefore, clearly, as revealed from the  

records, the appointment of the respondent no.1 to the  

post of Legal Assistant in Krishi Utpadan Mandi Parishad  

was a fresh appointment in which post he joined on 9th  

November, 1973 and worked till 1st May, 1975.  As soon as  

the resignation was accepted and he joined the new post  

for all practical purposes, the respondent no. 1 became  

an employee of the new employer namely, Krishi Utpadan  

Mandi  Parishad  and  was  guided  by  their  service  

conditions.  There is no dispute with regard to the fact  

that the post which he was holding in Krishi Utpadan  

Mandi  Parishad  was  a  non-pensionable  post.   Even  

thereafter the respondent no. 1 applied for appointment  

to the post of Munsiff.  He appeared in the selection and  

thereafter joined the post of Munsiff which was again a  

fresh  appointment.   There  is  no  documentary  evidence  

placed on record to indicate that at the time of his  

appointment as Munsiff his past services were protected.  

That being the position, the respondent no. 1 would not  

be entitled to the benefit of the past services to be  

counted for the purpose of his pension.  The judgment and  

order  passed  by  the  High  Court  therefore  cannot  be  

affirmed which is set aside and the contention of the  

respondent  no. 1  in the  writ petition  is held  to be

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unsustainable and therefore rejected.   

10. The appeal stands allowed to the aforesaid extent  

leaving the  parties to bear their own costs.

.......................J [Dr. MUKUNDAKAM SHARMA]

........................J [ANIL R. DAVE]

NEW DELHI SEPTEMBER 6, 2011.