Smt. Kushum and Another vs State of U.P. and Others

Sudhir Agarwal, J.—Learned Counsels for the parties request that this matter is covered by the Judgments of this Court of Hon''ble Single Judge and Division Bench both, therefore, may be heard and decided finally at this stage under the Rules of the Court. I, therefore, proceed to decide the matter finally.

Heard Sri Niraj Kumar Tripathi holding brief of Sri Neeraj Kant, learned Counsel for the petitioners and learned Standing Counsel and Sri D.C. Tripathi, for the respondents.

The petitioners have sought a writ of mandamus commanding the respondents to pay arrears and revised pension according to the Vth Pay Commission, 1996 as well as the Government Order dated 13.04.2000 with interest which is actually paid to the petitioners within a specific period. They have also assailed the orders dated 06.10.2007 passed by the respondent No. 2 whereby their request for the revised pension has been rejected by Nagar Aayukta, Nagar Nigam, Allahabad.

A similar controversy came up before this Court in Smt. Qamar Jahan v. State of U.P. and Ors. 2008(2) ESC 977 and by a detailed Judgment this Court allowed the aforesaid writ petition with the followings directions:

In view of the above discussions, the writ petition is allowed. The respondents are directed to revise and fix family pension of the petitioner in the light of the judgment of this Court in Moti Lal Agarwal (supra) within a period of four months and continue to pay current the amount as determined above as and when it falls due. The petitioner shall also be entitled for interest on the arrears of family pension at the rate of 8% with effect from 22.9.2006, i.e., the date of filing of the writ petition till the said amount is paid. The petitioner shall also be entitled to cost which is quantified to Rupees ten thousand payable by respondents No. 2 and 3.

A special appeal was preferred by respondents No. 2 and 3 against the aforesaid Judgment i.e. Special Appeal No. (618) of 2008, Municipal Commissioner, Nagar Nigam Allahabad and Anr. v. Smt. Qamar Jahan and Anr. and the same has been dismissed by the Division Bench vide Judgment dated 13.08.2008 confirming the aforesaid Judgment in its entirety except the cost which has been reduced from Rs. 10,000/ to Rs. 1,000/.

Learned Counsel for the parties do not dispute that the present writ petition is squarely covered by the aforesaid Judgments in Smt. Qamar Jahan (supra). In the circumstances, for the reasons contained in the Judgment of this Court in Smt. Qamar Jahan (supra) the orders dated 06.10.2007 passed by the respondent No. 2 (Annexure No. 9 & 9A to the writ petition) is not sustainable and are hereby quashed. The writ petition is allowed. The respondents are directed to revise and fix family pension of the petitioners in the light of the judgment of this Court in Moti Lal Agarwal (supra) within a period of four months and continue to pay current pension as determined above as and when it falls due. The petitioners shall also be entitled for interest on the arrears of family pension at the rate of 8% with effect from 23.04.2007, i.e., the date of filing of the first writ petition till the said amount is paid.