Page No.# 1/5 GAHC010248332024 undefined THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT (HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH) Case No. : WP(C)/6341/2024 MD. ABDUL MAZID @ MD. A. MOZID S/O LATE HASEN ALI VILL- LANGIA, P.O. JENGONI DIST. NAGAON, ASSAM PIN-782143 VERSUS THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 6 ORS. REPRESENTED BY THE PRINCIPAL SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNMENT OF ASSAM, PANCHAYAT AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, DISPUR, GUWAHATI-6. 2:THE COMMISSIONER AND SECRETARY THE GOVERNMENT OF ASSAM PENSION AND PUBLIC GRIEVANCES DEPARTMENT DISPUR GUWAHATI-6. 3:THE COMMISSIONER AND SECRETARY THE GOVERNMENT OF ASSAM FINANCE DEPARTMENT DISPUR GUWAHATI-6. 4:THE COMMISSIONER PANCHAYAT AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT ASSAM JURIPAR Page No.# 2/5 SIX MILE GUWAHATI-37. 5:THE DIRECTOR OF PENSION ASSAM HOUSEFED COMPLEX DISPUR GUWAHATI-6. 6:THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER ZILLA PARISHAD NAGAON P.O. AND DIST. NAGAON ASSAM PIN-782001. 7:THE TREASURY OFFICER NAGAON TREASURY P.O.AND DIST. NAGAON ASSAM PIN-78200 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. M ISLAM, MS A KHATUN Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM, SC, FINANCE,SC, P AND R.D. BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SOUMITRA SAIKIA ORDER 12.03.2025 Heard Mr. M. Islam, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Mr. S. Dutta, learned Standing Counsel, P&RD Department and Mr. J.K. Goswami, learned Additional Senior Government Advocate for the respondents. 2. The prayer in this writ petition is for grant of full pension and other retiral Page No.# 3/5 benefits by considering the total length of service reckoned from the date of Initial appointment of the petitioner in the service of the Panchayat. 3. The petitioner, namely, Md. Abdul Mazid @ Md. A. Mozid retired from service on 29.02.2004 as a Tax Collector/ Road Mohorar of Potia Chapari Raumari Gaon Panchayat under Zilla Parishad, Nagaon, on reaching the age of superannuation. The petitioner was appointed in the service of the Panchayat on 26.11.1962. 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 came to be provincialised accordingly in terms of the provisions of the Act. 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 Page No.# 4/5 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/2011/ 000138, issued in respect of petitioner has specifically stated that the date of petitioner entry in service is 26.11.1962 and his date of retirement is 29.02.2004. The total period of service rendered by the petitioner was 41 years 3 months and 3 days. Yet, the pension disbursal authority had calculated the petitioner’s monthly pension @ Rs. 4,720/- per month with the observation that a period of 12 years 6 months and 10 days could not be counted for the purpose of pension and the petitioner’s net qualifying service would be only 28 years 08 months and 28 days. 6. A 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. FazlayRabbi], 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 41 years 3 months 3 days from the petitioner’s date of entry in service i.e. 26.11.1962 to till his date of retirement, 29.02.2004 is required to be counted for the purpose of pension and other retirement dues. As such, the decision not to count a period of 12 years 6 months and 10 days for the Page No.# 5/5 purpose of pension and making calculation of the pension amount on that basis is found to be in congruent 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 by counting his total period of service as 41 years 3 months 3 days and issue a fresh Pension Payment Order in super session 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 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