JKSFC vs SWARN KUMAR AMLA

This appeal is directed against the judgment of a learned Single Judge of this Court dated 24.05.2017 passed in SWP No.2796/2016 titled Swarn

Kumar Amla and others v. State of J&K and others.

Briefly stated, the facts of the case are that the respondents, forty five in number, approached the Writ Court by way of SWP No.2796/2016

seeking, inter alia, a direction to the appellant to release the arrears of their salary in terms of 6th pay commission recommendations and cost of living allowance etc. All the respondents, however, had retired from the State Forest Corporation on attaining the age of superannuation. It transpires that the recommendations of 6th pay commission which had been implemented in the State for its employees remained unimplemented for some time insofar as State Forest Corporation is concerned. One Ghulam Mohiuddin Sofi, a retired employee, along with 89 others, similarly situated with the respondents herein filed SWP No.2461/2013 in Srinagar wing of this Court which was disposed of vide order dated 10.06.2015, directing the appellant to release the benefits as admissible to the petitioners therein pursuant to the recommendations of 6th pay commission.

It is not disputed before us that the judgment passed in SWP No.2461/2013 dated 10.06.2015 has since been implemented and benefits in terms of

6th pay commission recommendations have been released in favour of the counter part of the respondents.

The respondents in their petition had sought nothing more than the parity with their counterparts who had been given the benefit of arrears on

account of 6th pay commission which was disbursed to them in three monthly installments. The grievance projected by the respondents in the writ petition was that when their counterparts serving in the Corporation in Srinagar Division had been given the arrears in three installments, there was no reason or justification to subject them to hostile treatment by providing that the arrears payable to them would be disbursed in 60 monthly installments spreading over a period of five years.

Learned Single Judge after hearing the learned counsel for the parties and taking note of the stand taken by the Corporation that the arrears in

favour of the writ petitioners in SWP No.2461/2013 were paid in three installments in the peculiar facts of the aforesaid case and to comply with the directions of the Writ Court issued vide order dated 10.06.2015, came to the conclusion that the respondents were similarly situated with their counterparts i.e. petitioners in SWP No.2461/2013, as such, could not have been discriminated in the matter of disbursement of arrears of their salary etc which had become payable pursuant to the implementation of recommendations of the 6th pay commission.

The learned Single Judge, in these circumstances, allowed the writ petition of the respondents and directed the appellant to release the benefits due

as are admissible to the respondents in three installments within a period of three months from the date certified copy of the order is made available to

the appellant.

The appellant has not accepted the judgment of the learned Single Judge and has, therefore, brought this matter before us by way of this appeal.

Having heard the learned counsel for the parties and after going through the record, we find that the order of the learned Single Judge does not call

for any interference.

Admittedly, the respondents herein and the writ petitioners in SWP No.2164/2013 who were serving in the Kashmir Division of the

appellantCorporation are similarly situated. Both set of employees i.e. those working in Jammu Division and those working in Kashmir Division form one Class and therefore, the appellant could have treated them separately. The employees working in Kashmir Division who were petitioners in SWP

No.2164/2013 were paid the arrears on account of 6th pay commission recommendations in three monthly installments whereas their counterparts serving in Jammu Division were directed to be paid same benefit in 60 monthly installments spreading over a period of five years. Apparently there is no rationale for such classification.

The contention of the learned counsel for the appellant that the arrears in favour of the employees of the Corporation working in Srinagar Division

who were writ petitioners in SWP No.2164/2013 were given in three monthly installments in peculiar circumstances of the case and the then availability of requisite funds with the Corporation is a plea too specious to be accepted.

The logic put forth by the appellant-Corporation to treat the respondents differently than their counterparts serving in Kashmir Division is not

acceptable as the same, if accepted, would result in hostile discrimination to the respondents. The Writ Court has rightly concluded that the respondents and the writ petitioners in SWP No.2461/2013 constitute one class, therefore, there could be no discrimination inter se.

The appeal is, therefore, found to be devoid of any merit. Accordingly, the same is dismissed along with connected MPs. However, there shall be

no order as to the costs.

It has been brought to our notice that one of the three installments as directed by the learned Single Judge has already been paid to the

respondents. Let the appellant pay the remaining two installments to the respondents by 30th June, 2018. It is made clear that in case of any default in releasing the balance installments in favour of the respondents as directed above, the arrears payable to the respondents would attract interest @ 9%

per annum till the payment is actually made to the respondents.