Page No.# 1/6 GAHC010024642025 undefined THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT (HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH) Case No. : WP(C)/716/2025 MD. MUSHARRAF HOSSAIN MOLLAH S/O.- LATE MD. HUSSAIN ALI MOLLAH, VILLAGE PATHLIKUCHI PATHER, P.O.- BARPALLY, DISTRICT- BARPETA, ASSAM. PIN- 781314. VERSUS THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 6 ORS. REPRESNTED BY THE PRINCIPAL SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNMENT OF ASSAM, PANCHYAT AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, DISPUR, GUWAHATI-6. 2:THE COMMISSIONER AND SECRETARY THE GOVERNMENT OF ASSAM PENSION AND PUBLIC GRIEVANCE 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 SIX MILE GUWAHATI-6. 5:THE DIRECTOR OF PENSION ASSAM Page No.# 2/6 HOUSEFED COMPLEX DISPUR GUWAHATI- 37. 6:THE CHIEF EXECTIVE OFFICER ZILLA PARISHAD BARPETA P.O. AND DIST.- BARPETA ASSAM PIN- 781301. 7:THE TREASURY OFFICER BARPETA TREASURY P.O. AND DIST.- BARPETA ASSAM PIN- 781301 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. M ISLAM, MS A KHATUN Advocate for the Respondent : SC, P AND R.D., SC, FINANCE DEPTT.,GA, ASSAM BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SOUMITRA SAIKIA ORDER 26.03.2025 Heard Mr. M. Islam, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Ms. N. Bora, learned standing counsel, P & RD and Ms. U. Sharma, learned Government Advocate, Assam for the respondents no. 2 & 5. 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 in the service of the Panchayat. 3. The petitioner retired from service on 31.12.1999 as a Gaon Panchayat Page No.# 3/6 Secretary of 38 No. Pub Mandia Gaon Panchayat under the Zilla Parishad, Barpeta, on reaching the age of superannuation. The petitioner had joined in his service as a Gaon Panchayat Secretary under Zilla Parishad, Barpeta on 01.09.1963. The service of the petitioner was provincialised vide Notification dated 16.11.1991 with effect from 01.10.1991 and he retired from his service on 31.12.1999. 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. 4. When a dispute arose as regards the date from which the period of service 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 being 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 Page No.# 4/6 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/2011/000185, issued in respect of petitioner has specifically stated that the date of petitioner’s entry in service is 01.09.1963 and the petitioner’s date of retirement is 31.12.1999. The total period of service rendered by the petitioner was 36 years 4 months. Yet, the pension disbursal authority had calculated the petitioner’s monthly pension @ Rs. 1726/- per month with the observation that a period of 11 years 9 months 7 days could not be counted for the purpose of pension and Page No.# 5/6 the petitioner’s net qualifying service would be only 24 years 6 months 28 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 of 36 years 4 months from the petitioner’s date of entry in service, 01.09.1963 to till his date of retirement, 31.12.1999 is required to be counted for the purpose of pension and other retirement dues. As such, the decision not to count a period of 11 years 9 months 7 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 by counting his total period of service as 36 years 4 months 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 respondent no. 5. In the event such exercise is not completed within a period of 2 [two] months from the Page No.# 6/6 said date, the same will carry an interest of 6% per annum. 8. Accordingly, the writ petition stands allowed to the extent indicated above. No cost. JUDGE Comparing Assistant