Palekar, J. - (1.) These appeals raise a common question of law as to whether the State Government is entitled to reduce the amount of pension and gratuity legally payable to its officers on their superannuation without giving a reasonable opportunity to the officers to show cause against the proposed reduction.
(2.) In the first case the officer concerned is Shri K. R. Erry. He joined the Punjab P. W. D. Irrigation Branch as an Assistant Engineer in 1926. In due course he was posted as a Central Designs Officer and remained attached to the Central Designs Office first in the capacity of Deputy Director from 6-11-1951 to 30-4-1952 and then as an Executive Engineer (Designs) from 1-5-1952 to 1-11-1955. He was promoted from P. S. E. Class II to P.S.E. Class I with effect from 22-9-1954 and was confirmed as an Executive Engineer with effect from 12-8-1956. Early in 1958, he was promoted to the rank of an officiating Superintending Engineer and was posted as Director of Central Designs. In November, 1958 he retired from service on reaching the age of superannuation. Shortly, thereafter he was re-appointed by the Government as a Professor and Head of the Department of Civil Engineering in the Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, which post he held for about 16 months. The question of his pension was taken up by the Government in the normal routine and on 29-7-1963, Government informed him that though he was entitled to a superannuation pension of Rs. 423.05 n.p. per month and death-cum-retirement gratuity of Rs. 16,320/- the Government was pleased to impose a cut of 20% in the pension and Rs. 2,000/- in the gratuity amount under Rule 6.4 of the Punjab Civil Services Pension Rules, since, in the opinion of the Government, the service record of Shri Erry was not satisfactory. It is an admitted fact that before this cut was applied Shri Erry had not been furnished the grounds nor had he been given an opportunity to show cause against the proposed cut.
(3.) The second case also runs on parallel lines. The officer concerned is Shri Sobhag Rai Mehta. He joined the Punjab Irrigation Department as a temporary Engineer in 1939 and was confirmed as Assistant Engineer in P.S.E. Class II in 1946. He was promoted to P.S.E. Class I and as an officiating Executive Engineer in 1949. After a few months he was reverted as S. D.O. as he was declared unsuitable for the promotion by the Punjab Public Service Commission. Two years thereafter i.e. in 1951 he was again promoted as Officiating Executive Engineer and confirmed as an Executive Engineer with effect from 1-9-1956. Thereafter he was promoted as an Officiating Superintending Engineer with effect from 12-3-1959 and earned a year's increment. On 12-12-1960 he attained the age of superannuation. As his pension papers were not finalized soon thereafter he was allowed to draw anticipatory pension in the sum of Rs. 190/- per month and Rupees 6,158/- as death-cum-retirement gratuity pending final disposal of his case. On 4-7-1964 Government decided that whereas the pension admissible to him under the rules was Rs. 211.35 n.p. per month along with death-cum-retirement gratutity of Rs. 8,211/- it was necessary to impose a cut of 15% in his pension under rule 6.4 of the Punjab Civil Services Rules, as in the opinion of the Government the service record of Shri Mehta was not satisfactory. His pension was thus reduced from Rs. 211.35 n.p. to Rupees 179.60 per month. It is admitted that while applying the cut to the pension, no opportunity was given to Shri Mehta to show cause against the proposed cut.;