- (1.) This appeal is directed against the judgment delivered by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh in Civil Writ Petition No. 662/2004 dated July 12, 2004. The respondent herein Suresh Kumar Sharma was appointed as Assistant Advocate General, Punjab by the order dated 28th April, 1986 of the Government of Punjab. The order reads as under: GOVERNMENT OF PUNJABDEPARTMENT OF HOME AFFAIRS AND JUSTICE(JUDICIAL BRANCH) 1. The Governor of Punjab is pleased to appoint the following Advocate as Assistant Advocates General, Punjab in the scale of Rs. 2000-2300 plus usual allowances attached to these posts, from the date they assume charge: 1. Shri Suresh Kumar Sharma 2. Shri Ranjit Singh Gill 3. Ms. Sukhcharan Kaur Bhatia
(2.) The terms and conditions of their appointment will be as under: (i) They will be whole time Government employees and will do all criminal and miscellaneous work entrusted to them by the Advocate General, Punjab, (ii) Their appointment is purely temporary and services are terminable without assigning any reason and without notice, (iii) For conducting civil cases only, they will be paid two third of the prescribed fee, (iv) If on any particular day they have no criminal case to conduct in the High Court, fees payable to them in civil cases will be reduced by the amount of their salary for that day, (v) In the matter of leave and traveling allowances, they will be governed by the Punjab Civil Services Rules, (vi) House Rent Allowance will be admissible to them, (vii) Their services are contractual in nature and, as such, they will not be entitled to any other benefit viz. Pension, gratuity and encashment of leave etc. (viii) Their appointment would be against a non-pensionable post. Dated Chandigarhthe 28th April, 1986 Sd/-(R.P. Ojha)Financial Commissioner& Secretary to Governmentof PunjabDepartment of Home Affairsand Justice. No. 1/5/86-4 Judl./1111.... 2. It may be pertinent to mention that Ms. S.K. Bhatia was also appointed along with the respondent herein. According to Mr. P.S. Patwala, learned senior counsel appearing for the respondent, this case is covered by the judgment of this Court in Civil Appeal No. 5810/2000, State of Punjab and Anr. v. S.K. Bhatia and Ors.
(3.) The brief facts of this case, which are relevant to dispose of the appeal are recapitulated as under: The respondent was appointed as Assistant Advocate General and thereafter he was appointed as Deputy Advocate General and Senior Deputy Advocate General in the State of Punjab. The respondent superannuated on 31.03.2003. The pensionary benefits were denied to the respondent, then he approached the High Court and made grievance that the respondent was wrongly denied pensionary benefits. It may be pertinent to mention that some similarly placed persons were also denied pensionary benefits after their superannuation and in the Writ Petitions of V.P. Parashar, D.N. Rampal and S.K. Bhatia the High Court allowed their writ petitions and directed the State of Punjab to give them pensionary benefits. Mr. Patwalia has particularly referred to the judgment of S.K. Bhatia who was appointed along with the respondent herein. The learned single Judge has also quoted the terms and conditions of the appointment of S.K. Bhatia, which would also be the same in the case of respondent herein. The terms and conditions of the appointment reads as under: (i) They will be whole time Government employees and will do all criminal and miscellaneous work entrusted to them by the Advocate General, Punjab, (ii) Their appointment is purely temporary and services are terminable without assigning any reason and without notice, (iii) For conducting civil cases only, they will be paid two third of the prescribed fee, (iv) If on any particular day they have no criminal case to conduct in the High Court, fees payable to them in civil cases will be reduced by the amount of their salary for that day, (v) In the matter of leave and traveling allowances, they will be governed by the Punjab Civil Services Rules, (vi) House Rent Allowance will be admissible to them, (vii) Their services are contractual in nature and, as such, they will not be entitled to any other benefit viz. Pension, gratuity and encashment of leave etc. (viii) Their appointment would be against a non-pensionable post.;