Allahabad High Court
State Of U.P. And 2 Others vs Deputy Superintendent Of Police ... on 19 July, 2023
Bench: Sunita Agarwal, Anish Kumar Gupta
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
?Neutral Citation No. - 2023:AHC:143972-DB
Court No. - 29
Case :- SPECIAL APPEAL DEFECTIVE No. - 489 of 2023
Appellant :- State Of U.P. And 2 Others
Respondent :- Deputy Superintendent Of Police Chandra Pal Singh And 5 Others
Counsel for Appellant :- Rama Nand Pandey
Counsel for Respondent :- Bramh Narayan Singh
Hon'ble Mrs. Sunita Agarwal,J.
Hon'ble Anish Kumar Gupta,J.
Order on Delay Codonation Application :-
Sri Bramh Narayan Singh, learned Advocate appearing for the respondents, at the outset, submits that he has no objection to the delay in filing the instant appeal. The delay has been explained to the satisfaction of the Court.
The delay condonation application is allowed. The delay in filing the appeal is hereby condoned.
The appeal be treated to have been filed within time.
Office shall allot regular number to the appeal.
Order on memo of Appeal:-
This intra-Court appeal has been filed on the strength of an interim order dated 05.04.2021 passed in Special Leave to appeal (C) No.4722 of 2021 (Union of India and anr vs. M. Siddhraj). The said Special Leave petition was directed against the judgment and order dated 22.10.2020 passed in Writ Petition (C) No.146967 of 2020, by the High Court of Karnataka.
It has been brought before us by the learned counsel for the respondents/writ petitioners that by judgment and order dated 19.05.2023, leave to appeal has been granted by the Apex Court and the Civil Appeal has been decided finally, in terms of the judgment and order dated 11.04.2023 in Civil Appeal No.2471 of 2023 titled as "Director (Admin and HR) KPTCL & ors vs. C.P. Mundinamani & ors), reported in 2023 SCC OnLine SC 401. The Civil Appeal No.2471 of 2023 was directed against the decision of the High Court of Karnataka whereby the Division Bench of the High Court has allowed the appeal preferred by the employees directing the respondents to grant one annual increment which the employees had earned one day prior to their retirement on attaining the age of superannuation.
The issue before us is that whether the respondent is entitled to the benefit of one annual increment notionally, which they earned on completion of one year service preceding the date of retirement. The dispute raised by the appellant herein is that the respondents/writ petitioners had retired on 30th June on attaining the age of superannuation, however, the day on which the increment is accrued, the respondents were not in service. On this aspect of the matter, it has been considered by the Apex Court in Civil Appeal No.2471 of 2023 that to answer this issue the object and purpose of grant of annual increment is required to be considered. A government servant is granted annual increment on the basis of his good conduct while rendering one year service. The increment earned is, thus, for rendering service with good conduct in a year i.e. for specified period. The time period, during which the employee has already served and earned annual increment for the services already rendered by him with good conduct efficiently cannot be wiped out merely because the government servant has retired on the very next day. The benefits he has already earned or entitled to for the service rendered by him in the preceding one year, cannot be denied. The Apex Court holding so has also affirmed the decision of this Court in Nand Vijay Singh & ors vs. Union of India & ors in Writ-A No.13299 of 2020 decided on 29.06.2021 and the decisions of other high Courts. In Nand Vijay Singh (supra) the observations in para '24' that where entitlement to receive a benefit crystalises in law, its denial would be arbitrary unless it is for a valid reason, has been quoted with approval by the Apex Court. It was held that the Division Bench of High Court of Karnataka has rightly directed for grant of one annual increment which the employees earned on the last day of their services for rendering their services in preceding one year from the date of retirement with good behaviour and efficiency.
In light of the above, we are further required to note that the office of Comptroller and Auditor General of India has issued a circular dated 12.06.2023 in compliance of the decision of the Apex Court dated 19.05.2023, in S.L.P.(C) No.4722 of 2021 and to implement the decisions of this Court to allow the benefit of notional increment to pensioners retiring on 30th June and 31st December.
In light of the above, the instant appeal is found devoid of merits and hence dismissed.
Order Date :- 19.7.2023
P Kesari
