Holding

Employees absorbed from Nari Niketan into the Delhi Administration are entitled to pensionary benefits, and the earlier judgment in Rekha Mehta’s case applies to them.

Summary

The Supreme Court considered the case of two former employees of Nari Niketan, an institution fully funded and controlled by the Delhi Administration, who after the institution’s takeover in 1979 were absorbed into the Delhi Administration’s service on the same pay scale. Upon retirement they were denied pensionary benefits, unlike a previous employee, Rekha Mehta, whose writ petition had resulted in a Supreme Court order directing payment of pension including antecedent service. The Delhi Administration contended that the earlier judgment was limited to that specific case and not binding on the petitioners. The Court held that staff absorbed from a fully funded institution are entitled to the same ordinary facilities, such as pension benefits, as other government employees, and that the earlier decision must apply to similarly situated employees. Accordingly, the petitioners were directed to receive their pension benefits within three months, awarded costs, and the matter was referred to the appropriate level to prevent future litigation.

Issues considered

Whether employees absorbed from a fully funded institution into a government administration are entitled to pensionary benefits.
Whether a Supreme Court judgment in a particular employee’s case (Rekha Mehta) is binding on other similarly situated employees.
Whether denial of pensionary benefits violates the right to constitutional remedy under Article 32 of the Constitution of India.

Legislation cited

Constitution of Indias. Article 32

Subjects

pensionabsorption of staffgovernment takeoverArticle 32writ petitionservice lawequal treatmentprecedent

Judgment

A SMT. PREM DEVI & ANOTHER
V.
DELHI ADMINISTRATION & ORS.

APRIL 17, 1989

B [G.L. OZA AND K.N. SAIKIA, JJ.]
~

Civil Services: Nari Niketan-lnstitution funded and controlled ~
by State taken over and staff absorbed in its services-Whether
employees entitled to pensionary benefits. -
C An institution being fully funded by the respondent-Adminis-
tration was taken over and the affected staff absorbed in its services in +
the time scale of pay. The petitioners who comprised the said staff were
not given pensionary benefits upon retirement. They, therefore, filed
these writ petitions.

D This court in a petition by one of the affected employees (Smt.
Rekha Mehta v. Delhi Administration, W.P. (C) No. 539 of 1987
decided on April 4, 1988) had directed payment of pensionary benefits.
However, the case of the respondent was that the said decision having ).___
been rendered in a particular case, it wonld not be applicable to the
petitioners hi the instant case.
E
Allowing the writ petitions,

HELD: The services in an institution under the control of and
-
fully funded by the respondent-Administration having been taken ~lf
over by it and the staff absorbed in the time scale of pay, it could not be
F said that they would not be entitled to ordinary facilities like the pensio- ,.
nary benefits available to other staff. [6020] ~

The case of one of the employees having been decided by this
court, it was expected that without resorting to any of the methods, the
other employees identically placed would have been given the same
G benefit. l602G] ;i...
[The petitioners to be paid pensionary benefits within three
months. The matter to be considered at the appropriate level to see that
such things do not happen in future, so that unnecessary litigation is
avoided and cost to the public exchequer is saved.]
H
600
PREM DEVI v. DELHI ADMN. !OZA, J.) 601

ORIGINAL JURISDICTION: Writ Petition (Civil) No. 1055 A
and 1088 of 1988.

(Under Article 32 of the Constitution of India.)

R.P. Kapur for the petitioners.

~ V.C. Mahajan, Mrs. Kitty K. Manglam and Ms. A. Subhashini B
... for the Respondents.

- The Judgment of the Court was.delivered by

OZA, J. After hearing the learned counsel for parties it clearly
emerges that the two petitioners and one Smt. Rekha Mehta who had filed ac
~ + petition earlier were all the employees of one institution known as
Nari Kiketan. This institution was fully funded by Delhi Administra-
tion and was controlled by Board managing the affairs. It is also not in
dispute that all the three persons mentioned above, the two petitioners
and Smt. Rekha Mehta, are identically situated in respect of their D
conditions of service.

On 1.12. 79 the Board was superseded and the institution was
_,l_ taken over by the Delhi Administration and the staff of this institution
Nari Niketan was absorbed in the Delhi Administration vide Order
~
No. 4-2(3)-79-DSW-ESTI-dated 27.2.80. By this order about 20 offi- E

- cials were.absorbed in time scale and pay as were being drawn by them
prior to 1.12.79. These facts are not disputed. It is also not in dispute
that Smt. Rekha Mehta when after retirement was not given pensio-
nary benefits she filed a petition in this Court No. (C) 539of1987. This
·~ Court passed the order in the case of Smt. Rekha Mehta as:
F

i
• "Rule issued and made absolute. Arguments heard. The
respondents are directed to calculate the pension and other
retiral benefits of the petitioner taking into account her
antecedent of service before absorption and pay the same
as early as possible and in any event not later than three
months from today. The. respondent will pay costs quanti- G
-'., fied at Rs.2,000 to the petitioner."

Thereafter these two petitioners have again filed writ petitions
alleging that they have retired and therefore they are entitled to the
same .pensionary benefits which were given to Smt. Rekha Mehta as
they belong .to the services of Nari Niketan institution, subsequently H
602 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1989] 2 S.C.R.

A absorbed in the services of Delhi Administration. It is also not in
dispute that these petitioners repeatedly approached the respondent
Delhi Administration and made representations for getting the pensio-
nary benefits as were granted to Smt. Rekha Mehta after the orders
were passed by this Hon'ble Court. Unfortunately in spite of all this
nothmg was done consequently these two writ petitions were filed
B before this Court. Learned counsel appearing for the Delhi Adminis-
tration attempted to contend that the deci3ion in the case of Smt.
Rekha Mehta will not be applicable but realising the difficulty he only
reaa through the affidavit filed in return wherein a long story as to how
the papers tossed from department to department and ultimately no
decision was taken. There is also reference to the Govt. of India,
C Ministry of Personnel & Training, Public Grievances & Pensions and it is
stateJ that in the opinion of these departments the judgment of this
Court in Smt. Rekha Mehta was a judgment in the particular case only -+- \
and these petitioners are not entitled to pensionary benefits. It is un-
fortunate that such a simple affair where the services in an institution
under the control of the Delhi Administration and fully funded by the
D Delhi Administration when taken over and the staff absorbed in the
Delhi Administration it could be said that they will not be entitled to
ordinary facilities like the pensionary benefits when available to other
staff of the Delhi Administration and apart from it when in one case of
an employee of the institution whose services were absorbed in the
Delhi Administration has been decided by this Court still the counter
E affidavit indicates the working of the departmental officials who chose
to opine that it is not binding on the Go.vt. That was a case only of a
particular employee in spite of the fact that Union of India is alleged as
a party. It has chosen not to keep a counsel present at the time of
hearing of these petitions. All these circumstances go to indicate as to
-
how the matters are handled by our Administration resulting in un-
F necessary litigation and heavy expenditure on the public exchequer.
Apart from the expenditure of litigation the costs that have to be paid
in such litigation.

The facts as are not in dispute the case of one of the employees
having been decided by this Court it was expected that without resort-
G ing to any of the methods the other employees identically placed would ~
have been given the same benefit, which would have avoided not only
unnecessary litigation but also of the waste of time and the movement
of files and papers which only waste public time. Learned counsel only
read out the counter and stated that it was thought that the case of
Smt. Rekha Mehta will not be applicable to the case of the present
H petitioners although learned counsel had no argument in law to sup-
"

PREM DEVI v. DELHI ADMN:[OZA, J.] 603

-~ port such a contention. The petitions are therefore allowed an\) it is A
di~ected that the petitioners shall be paid their pensionary benefits
within 3 months from today. It is further directed that the petitioners
shall be entitled to costs of Rs.2500 in each case. It is also directed that
the matter will be considered at the appropriate level to see that such
things do not happen in future so that unnecessary litigation is avoided
B
and costs to the public exchequer is saved.
,'{
'). P.S.S Petitions allowed.

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