- (1.) Leave granted in S.L.P.(C) NO.1833 of 2013 an S.L.P. (C) NO.19001 of 2013.
(2.) The U.P. State Cement Corporation Limited (for short, 'the Corporation') was wound up on 8th December, 1999. There is no dispute about the fact that the said Corporation is an instrumentality of the State under Article 12 of the Constitution of India. It is the admitted position that in the State of U.P. existed a set of rules, namely, the Uttar Pradesh Absorption of Retrenched Employees of Government or Public Corporations in Government Service Rules, 1991 (for short, 'the 1991 Rules'). After the Corporation was wound up, Shailendra Kumar Pandey and some others, who were the employees of the Corporation, filed Civil Miscellaneous Writ Petition No.36644 of 2003, seeking absorption under the aforesaid Rules.
(3.) The learned Single Judge hearing the writ petition referred to Rule 3(i) of the Rules that deals with the rights of the retrenched employees. He referred to the dictionary clause engrafted in Rule 2(c), which reads as follows: "2(c) Retrenched employees means a person who was appointed on the post under the Government or a public corporation on or before Oct., 1, 1986 in accordance with the procedure laid down for recruitment to the post and was continuously working in any post under the Government or such Corporation up to the date of his retrenchment. Due to reduction in, or winding up of, any establishment of the Government or the Corporation, as the case may be and in respect of whom a certificate of being a retrenched employee has been issued by this appointing authority." After reproducing the said provision, the Writ Court referred to the order passed in Civil Miscellaneous Writ Petition No.17195 of 1998, and reproduced the relevant paragraphs from the decision rendered therein and, thereafter, took note of the fact that the said order had been affirmed in Special Appeal No.540 of 1999, and further stood confirmed by this Court, for the appeal preferred before this Court did not meet with success. The learned Single Judge also referred to the order passed in Civil Miscellaneous Writ Petition No. 38534 of 2001 on 20th September, 2003, wherein a direction was issued to the respondent No.2 to take appropriate decision. After the said direction was issued, the Principal Secretary (Personnel), Government of U.P., rejected the claims of the petitioners therein on the foundation that the Personnel Department did not have the authority to declare the employees as retrenched employees and to take a decision for their absorption. The learned Single Judge dealt with various contentions raised by the learned counsel for the parties and also cogitated upon the U.P. Absorption of Retrenched Employees of the State Government/Public Sector Corporation in Government Service (Recession) Rules, 2003 (hereinafter referred to as 'the 2003 Rules') and, eventually came to hold passed that the Absorption Rules, 1991 were rescinded on 8th April, 2003 and much prior to that the employees had represented and the respondents were required to consider their rights for absorption within two months and regard being had to the rule position, it could safely be held that the rights of the employees had crystallized much before the Rules were rescinded. After so holding, the learned Single Judge proceeded to state thus:- "The respondents cannot take the benefit of the delay caused by them in considering petitioners application. The two months period granted by this Court on 20.09.2002 expired on 20.11.2002. The delay made by the Secretary (Karmik) Anubhag-2, Government of U.P. in deciding the matter, cannot be a ground to refuse the due consideration, required to be made by this Court before the rescission of the Rules. The Rescission of Rules will, therefore, not come in the way of petitioners in claiming the absorption. The writ petition, as such, allowed. The impugned order dated 30.04.2003 passed by the Special Secretary (Karmik) Anubhag-3, Govt. of U.P., Lucknow (Annexure-10 to the writ petition) is quashed. The respondents are directed to absorb the petitioners in any vacancy on Group-C post outside the purview of Public Service Commission within a period of two months from the date of production of a certified copy of this order.";