Court No. - 29 Case :- WRIT - A No. - 71796 of 2009 Petitioner :- Dr. Amar Nath Maurya & Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. & Others Petitioner Counsel :- R.P. Dubey Respondent Counsel :- C.S.C. Hon'ble Satya Poot Mehrotra,J.
Hon’ble Kashi Nath Pandey,J.
Heard Sri R.P. Dubey, learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned
Standing Counsel appearing for the respondents.
The learned counsel for the parties are agreed that the controversy involved
in the present Writ Petition is covered by the earlier decisions of this Court,
referred to hereinafter in the present Judgment, and therefore, the present Writ
Petition may be decided at this stage itself.
Two supplementary affidavits have been filed on behalf of the petitioners,
which have been taken on record by the Order dated 08.01.2010.
From the averments made in the Writ Petition and the Supplementary
Affidavits, it appears that the petitioner Dr. Amar Nath Maurya was appointed
as Lecturer in Botany Department at D.S. College Aligarh, and he joined his
services on the post of Lecturer on 6.9.1973. The date of birth of the petitioner
Dr. Amar Nath Maurya was 9.6.1944. The age of superannuation of teachers
working in Degree Colleges was enhanced from 60 years to 62 years by the
Government Order dated 24.2.2004 (Annexure SA-2 to the Second
Supplementary Affidavit). Accordingly, the date of superannuation of the
petitioner Dr. Amar Nath Maurya was 8.6.2006 and the date of retirement
after getting session benefit was 30th June, 2006. The petitioner accordingly
retired on 30th June, 2006.
It appears that initially the petitioner opted for Contributory Provident Fund
Scheme (CPF). However, in the year 2004, the petitioner exercised his option
in terms of the Government Order dated 25.8.1999 for switching over from
Contributory Provident Fund Scheme (CPF) to General Provident Fund
Scheme (GPF) with Pension. The intimation in regard to the exercise of
option in the year 2004 by the petitioner and other teachers working in D.S.
College, Aligarh was sent by the Principal of the College to the Regional
Higher Education Officer, Agra Region, Agra by the Communication dated
12.5.2004/18.5.2004 (Annexure SA-1 to the Second Supplementary
Affidavit).
It is, interalia, prayed in the Writ Petition that writ, order or direction in the
nature of mandamus be issued directing the respondents to accord the benefit
of GPF plus Pension Scheme to the petitioner in accordance with the
Government Order dated 25.8.1999, and various decisions of this Court.
Facts relevant for deciding the present Writ Petition are as under.
The State Government from time to time has issued Government Orders
permitting the teachers to exercise their options for switching over from
Contributory Provident Fund Scheme (CPF) to General Provident Fund
Scheme (GPF) with Pension.
The last such Government Order was issued on 25.8.1999 (Annexure 5 to
the Writ Petition) which permitted the teachers to exercise their options before
one year of their retirement. However, by the Government Order dated
5/6.5.2000 (Annexure 6 to the Writ Petition), a clarification was issued that
option could be exercised only by such teachers, who were governed under
the General Provident Fund Scheme and not under the Contributory Provident
Fund Scheme.
It appears that this Court in Civil Misc. Writ Petition NO. 25140 of 2001
(Dr. Shri Gopal Gupta and others Vs. State of U.P and others) considered
the aforesaid Government Orders dated 25.8.1999 and 5/6.5.2000, and held by
the Judgment and Order dated 26th October, 2006 as follows:
“….The policy of the Government providing benefit of GPF plus pension Scheme at no point of
time denied the benefits to those teachers who had not opted for the said scheme prior to 25th
August, 1999 or during the period prescribed either in the Government Order of 1980 or 1982.
Since the scheme remained in existence and time for giving option was extended from time to
time, the interpretation given by the State to the aforesaid Government order dated 25 th August,
1999 and the clarifications dated 5th June, 2000 and 12th July, 2000 cannot be sustained in the
eyes of law.
The petitioners who had applied/opted for GPF plus pension scheme though they were covered
under the CPF scheme, one year before their date of retirement i.e. during the extended period as
per the Government Order dated 25th August, 1999 could not have been refused the said benefit
on the ground that the aforesaid scheme/option was open only for those teachers who are
covered by the GPF scheme……..”
Copy of the said Judgment and Order dated 26th October, 2006 has been
filed as Annexure 7 to the Writ Petition.
It further appears that the State Government filed a Special Leave Petition
before the Supreme Court being Petition for Special Leave to Appeal (Civil)
No. 722 of 2008.
By the Order dated 3.11.2008 (Annexure 8 to the Writ Petition), their
Lordships of the Supreme Court dismissed the said Special Leave Petition.
Thus, the aforesaid Judgment and Order dated 26th October, 2006 became
final.
This position has not been disputed by the learned Standing Counsel.
In our opinion, the petitioner in the present Writ Petition, who exercised his
option in the year 2004 in terms of the Government Order dated 25.8.1999, is
entitled to the benefit of GPF Scheme with Pension.
As noted earlier, the petitioner retired from service on 30th June, 2006, and
therefore, the option exercised by the petitioner in the year 2004 was as per
the requirement of the said Government Order dated 25.8.1999.
We may mention that in Civil Misc. Writ Petition No. 13169 of 2008 (Kirti
Chand Gupta and others Vs. State of U.P. and others) connected with
various other Writ Petitions, similar controversy was involved. A DivisionBench of this Court by its Judgment and Order dated 16th April, 2009
(Annexure 12 to the Writ Petition) decided the said Writ Petitions following
the decision of this Court in Dr. Shri Gopal Gupta (supra), and gave
directions to the respondents in the said Writ Petitions for extending thebenefit of the said Government Order dated 25th August, 1999 to the
petitioners in the said Writ Petitions.
Respectfully following the above decisions, we decide the present Writ
Petition giving similar directions.
The Writ Petition is accordingly allowed with the following directions:
1. Within four weeks from today, the petitioner will file an application
before the concerned authority (Director of Higher Education, Uttar
Pradesh, Allahabad) along-with a certified copy of this Order. Within
six weeks of the filing of such application along-with certified copy of
this Order, the concerned authority will inform the petitioner regarding
the amount of contribution made by the employer in respect of the
Contributory Provident Fund Scheme (CPF) together with interest
thereon to be deposited by the petitioner as well as the necessary
formalities to be completed by the petitioner.
2. On receipt of necessary information from the concerned authority as
mentioned in the direction no. 1 above, the petitioner will, within two
months of the date of receipt of such information, deposit the
aforementioned amount together with interest thereon and also
complete the necessary formalities.
3. On the deposit being made and the formalities being completed by the
petitioner as mentioned in the direction no. 2 above, the respondents
within three months thereafter will give benefit of the Government
Order dated 25.8.1999 to the petitioner in terms of the option exercised
by the petitioner in the year 2004.
On the facts and in the circumstances of the case, the parties will bear their
own costs.
Order Date :- 12.1.2010
Ajeet