- (1.) Anuj Kumar Dey, the appellant herein, joined Indian Navy as Artificer Apprentice on 12/8/1971. On 17/8/1971 the statutory oath of allegiance was administered to him. He claims that his service in the Indian Navy must be calculated from that date, that is, 17/8/1971. On 11/8/1975 the appellant's training as Artificer Apprentice was over. Immediately thereafter, he was advanced to Electrical Artificer Vth Class on 12/8/1975. Various promotions were given to the appellant thereafter from time to time. On 31/1/1988 the appellant was released from the Navy. The dispute in this case is about the entitlement of the appellant to get pensionary benefits for his service under the Navy. According to the appellant, he has served the Navy for more than fifteen years which must be counted from 17/8/1971 when he was administered oath of allegiance. According to the respondents, the four years spent by the appellant as Artificer Apprentice was training period only and, therefore, the service of the appellant commenced only on 12/8/1975 when he was appointed Electrical Artificer Vth Class, after completion of his training as Artificer Apprentice on 11/8/1975. The question is whether this period of four years, 17/8/1971 to 11-8-1975 during which the appellant was undergoing training as Artificer Apprentice under the Navy, should be counted in the period of service rendered by the appellant.
(2.) Before going into the merits of the case, it will be necessary to refer to the relevant provisions of the Navy Act, 1957 and also to some of the Regulations framed under the said Act: "The NAVY ACT, 1957 CHAPTER-1 Preliminary 3. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, (16 'officer' means a commissioned officer and includes a subordinate officer but does not include a petty officer ; (17 'petty officer' means a sailor rated as such and includes a chief petty officer and a master chief petty officer; (20 'sailor' means a person in the naval service other than an officer; 368 9. (1 No person who is not a citizen of India shall be eligible for appointment or enrolment in the Indian Navy or the Indian Naval Reserve Forces except with the consent of the central government: 10. (1 Officers other than subordinate officers shall be appointed by commission granted by the President. (3 Subordinate officers shall be appointed in such manner and shall hold such rank as may be prescribed. 11. (1 Save as otherwise provided in this Act, the terms and conditions of service of sailors, the person authorised to enrol for service as sailors and the manner and procedure of such enrolment shall be such as may be prescribed. (2 No person shall be enrolled as a sailor in the Indian Navy for a period exceeding twenty years in the first instance: 12. Where a person after his enrolment has for a period of three months from the date of such enrolment been in receipt of pay as a sailor, he shall be deemed to have been duly enrolled and shall not thereafter be entitled to claim his discharge on the ground of any irregularity or illegality in his engagement or any other ground whatsoever; and if within the said three months such person claims his discharge, no such irregularity or illegality or other ground shall, until such person is discharged in pursuance of his claim, affect his position as a sailor in the naval service or invalidate any proceedings, act or thing taken or done prior to his discharge. 13. Every officer and every sailor shall, as soon as may be, after appointment or enrolment make and subscribe before the commanding officer of the ship to which he belongs, or the prescribed officer on oath or affirmation in the following form that is to say: 'i. . do swear in the name of God/solemnly affirm that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established and that I will, as in duty bound, honestly and faithfully serve in the naval service and go wherever ordered by sea, land or air, and that I will observe and obey all commands of the President and the commands of any superior officer set over me, even to the peril of my life. 14. Liability for service of officers and sailors.- (1 Subject to the provisions of Ss. (4, officers and sailors shall be liable to serve in the Indian Navy or the Indian Naval Reserve Forces, as the case may 369 be, until they are duly discharged, dismissed, dismissed with disgrace, retired, permitted to resign, or released. 15. Tenure of service of officers and sailors.- (1 Every officer and sailor shall hold office during the pleasure of the President. 16. Discharge on expiry of engagement.-Subject to the provisions of Section 18, a sailor shall be entitled to be discharged at the expiration of the term of service for-which he is engaged unless- 17. (1 A sailor entitled to be discharged under Section 16 shall be discharged with all convenient speed and in any case within one month of his becoming so entitled: (4 Every sailor who is dismissed, discharged, retired, permitted to resign or released from service shall be furnished by the prescribed officer with a certificate in the language which is the mother tongue of such sailor and also in the English language setting forth (a) the authority terminating his service; (b) the cause for such termination; and (c) the full period of his service in the Indian Navy and the Indian Naval Reserve Forces. "
(3.) Apart from the aforesaid provisions of the Navy Act, by Section 184 the central government has been empowered to make regulations in respect of, inter alia, "the terms and conditions of service, the pay, the pensions, allowances and other benefits of persons in the naval service, including special provision in this behalf during active service". In exercise of this power, the central government has framed the regulations called "the Navy Pension Regulations, 1964 ". "service" has been defined in Regulation 2 (1 to mean "service in the Indian Navy". Ch. III of the Regulations deals with sailors. In this Chapter, Regulation 69 (2 deals with service, pension and gratuity of the sailors. Regulation 78 lays down, "unless otherwise provided, the minimum service which qualifies for service pension is fifteen years". Regulation 79 is important for the purpose of this case and lays down: "all service from the date of enrolment or advancement to the rank of ordinary seaman or equivalent to the date of discharge shall qualify for pension or gratuity. " Regulation 261 deals with recruitment and provides: "261.Recruitment.- (1 The Chief of Naval Staff may recruit sailors required for the service. (2 Recruitment of sailors shall be made through boy entry, artificer apprentice entry and direct entry as necessary. The recruitment shall be carried out by the Recruitment Organisation established for the purpose and by any other authority as may be decided upon by the Chief of the Naval Staff from time to time. Persons authorised to enro lsailors, the 370 manner, procedure and terms and conditions of enrolment shall be as laid down in the appropriate Regulations. ";