Anil Kumar Sharma, Manjeet Singh and Inder Pal Thakur vs The State of Himachal Pradesh

Justice Kurian Joseph, C.J.—The writ petition is filed mainly with the following prayers:

(i). That the respondents may kindly be directed to pay the salary for the vacation period to the petitioner No. 1 with effect from 15.10.1997 till the date of his regularization, i.e., 01.01.2006 alongwith interest @ 9% per annum with all consequential benefits.

(ii). That the respondents may very kindly be directed to extend the benefit of the judgment passed by this Hon''ble Court in Nek Ram & others versus State of H.P. & others, C.W.P.(T) No. 14232/2008, decided on 17.11.2009, Annexure P-1 to the petitioners forthwith with all consequential benefits.

The first issue pertaining to vacation salary to contract teachers is squarely covered by the judgment of this Court rendered in Baldev Singh and others Versus State of H.P. and others, CWP No. 415 of 2000, decided on 1st September, 2008 and the judgment has become final. There will be a direction to the respondents to release eligible vacation salary, during the entire service period, to the petitioners in case the same has not been granted so far, within a period of two months from the date of production of a copy of this judgment along with a copy of the writ petition and a copy of the judgment, referred to above, by the petitioners. If the amounts are not disbursed, as above, the petitioners will be entitled to interest @ 10% and the officers responsible for the delay shall be personally liable for the same.

So far as the second grievance is concerned, the petitioners have submitted that they are similarly situated as the petitioners in the decisions rendered by this Court in CWP(T) No. 14232 of 2008, titled as Nek Ram and others versus State of Himachal Pradesh and others, decided on 17.11.2009. The petitioners submit that they would file appropriate representation(s) furnishing all factual details before the competent authority within a period of one month from today. It is always open for them to do so. As and when the same is made, the second respondent/competent authority will look into the matter, verify the facts and pass appropriate orders thereon within a period of two months from the date of the production of a copy of this judgment along with copy of the writ petition and a copy of the judgment, referred to above.

The writ petition is disposed of, so also the pending application(s), if any.