Page No.# 1/5 GAHC010082012025 undefined THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT (HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH) Case No. : WP(C)/2117/2025 SAYADA ABIDA KHATUN ALIAS ABIDA KHATUN W/O LT SYED ABDUL KADIR VILL AND PO KOCHARI SOLMARI DIST KAMRUP PIN 781354 ASSAM VERSUS THE STATE OF ASSAM AND ORS REP BY THE PRINCIPAL SECRETARY TO THE GOVT OF ASASM PANCHAYAT AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPTT DISPUR GUWAHATI 6 2:THE COMMISSIONER AND SECRETARY TO THE GOVT OF ASSAM PENSION AND PUBLIC GRIEVANCE DEPTT ASSAM DISPUR GUWAHATI 6 3:THE COMMISSIONER AND SECRETARY TO THE GOVT OF ASSAM FINANCE DEPTT DISPUR GUWAHATI 6 4:THE COMMISSIONER PANCHAYAT AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT ASSAM JURIPAR SIXMILE GUWAHATI 37 5:THE DIRECTOR OF PENSION ASSAM HOUSEFED COMPLEX DISPUR GUWAHATI 6 6:THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER KAMRUP ZILLA PARISHAD AMINGAON PO AND DIST KAMRUP ASSAM PIN 781031 7:THE TREASURY OFFICER KAMRUP TREASURY AMINGAON PO AMINGAON DIST KAMRUP ASSAM Page No.# 2/5 PIN 78103 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. M ISLAM, MS A KHATUN Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM, SC, P AND R.D.,SC, FINANCE BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SOUMITRA SAIKIA ORDER 25.04 .2025 Heard Mr. M. Islam, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Ms. N. Bora, learned Standing Counsel, P&RD and Mr. R. Dhar, learned Addl. Senior Government Advocate for the State. 2. The prayer in this writ petition is for grant of full pension and other retiral benefits by considering the total length of service reckoned from the date of initial appointment of the petitioner's husband in the service of the Panchayat. 3. The petitioner's husband, namely, Lt. Syed Abdul Kadir retired from service on 31.12.2003 as Gaon Panchayat Secretary of Bardal Gaon Panchayat under the Zilla Parishad, Kamrup, Assam on reaching the age of superannuation. The petitioner's husband was appointed in the service of the Gaon Panchayat on 11.05.1965. During the tenure of his service, the State Government had enacted the Assam Panchayat Employees [Provincialisation] Act, 1999 ['the Act, for short] and as per the provisions of the Act, the provincialised Panchayat Secretaries are to be provided pension and other retirement dues in terms of the provisions of the Act. The services of the petitioner's husband came to be provincialised accordingly in terms of the provisions of the Act. The husband of the petitioner died on 27.02.2012. Page No.# 3/5 4. When a dispute arose as regards the date from which the period of services of the provincialised Panchayat Secretaries was to be counted for the purpose of pension and other retirement dues under the provisions of the Act, litigations ensued. A Division Bench of this Court in a writ appeal, Writ Appeal no. 145/2009 [The State of Assam & another vs. Syed Md. Fazlay Rabbi] and a batch of writ petitions in its common judgment and order dated 24.03.2010 set the issue at rest by holding that the benefits of the provisions of the Assam Panchayat Employees [Provincialisation] Act, 1999 [the Act] including those for pension and other retirement dues would be available to the provincialised employees in service on or after 01.10.1991 on the basis of the length of their services reckoned from the dates of their initial appointments. Special leave petitions, Special Leave to Appeal [Civil] Nos. 19351- 19360/2010 preferred against the common judgment and order dated 24.03.2010 were dismissed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India on 02.08.2010. Thereafter, the State Government in the Pension and Public Grievances Department issued a Notification dated 17.03.2011, whereby, it had ordered that the benefits of the provisions of the Assam Panchayat Employees [Provincialisation] Act, 1999 [the Act] including those for pension and other retirement dues applicable to the State Government Employees, would also be available to the provincialised Panchayat Employees who were in service on or after 01.10.1991 on the basis of the length of their service reckoned from the dates of their initial appointments in the service of Panchayats. The said Notification was issued with the concurrence of the Finance Department. 5. The Pension Payment Order being PPO No. ADP/PRI/PPO/GPO/2012/000274/R2, issued in respect of petitioner's husband. Page No.# 4/5 The total period of service rendered by the petitioner’s husband was 38 years, 7 months and 20 days. Yet, the pension disbursal authority had calculated the petitioner's monthly pension @ Rs. 2276/- per month with the observation that a period of 10 years 0 months and 23 days could not be counted for the purpose of pension and the petitioner's net qualifying service would be only 28 years 6 months and 27 days. 6. A conjoint reading of the judgment and order dated 24.03.2010 passed in a writ appeal, Writ Appeal no. 145/2009 [The State of Assam & another vs. Syed Md. Fazlay Rabbi], the Notification dated 17.03.2011, unerringly points out to the position that for the purpose of pension and other retirement dues, the entire period service 38 years, 7 months and 20 days from the petitioner's husband's date of entry in service i.e. 11.05.1965 to till his date of retirement, 31.12.2003 is required to be counted for the purpose of pension and other retirement dues. As such, the decision not to count a period of 10 years 0 months and 23 days for the purpose of pension and making calculation of the pension amount on that basis is found to be incongruent and impermissible and accordingly, the same are set aside. 7. As a corollary, the respondent authorities shall now work out the entitlement of the pension and other retirement dues of the petitioner's husband by counting his total period of service as 38 years, 7 months and 20 days and issue a fresh Pension Payment Order in supersession of the earlier Pension Payment order. The entire exercise shall be undertaken and completed within a period of 2 [two] months from the date submission of a certified copy of this order by the petitioner at the office of the respondent no. 4 and the Page No.# 5/5 respondent no. 5. In the event such exercise is not completed within a period of 2 [two] months from the said date, the same will carry an interest of 6% per annum. 8. The writ petition stands allowed and disposed of in terms of the above. JUDGE Comparing Assistant