Nanavati, J. - (1.) The respondent who retired as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana on 31-12-89 was enrolled as an advocate on 27-1-59, appointed as District and Sessions Judge on 20-11-68 and then as a Judge and the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana and High Court on 14-12-77 and 4-10-89 respectively. On his retirement he elected for computation of his pension under Part III of the Ist Schedule to the High Court Judges (Conditions of Service) Act, 1954. According to the provisions contained in Part III, pension of the Judge has to be determined in accordance with the rules of his service. The rules which applied to him are the Punjab Superior Judicial Service Rules. 1963. His pension was, therefore, fixed in accordance with the said Rules. On 20-2-90, Rule 16 of the said Rules was amended by the Government of Punjab and it was provided that in case of a direct recruit to the Punjab Superior Judicial Service the actual period of practice at the bar not exceeding 10 years shall be added to his service qualifying for superannuation pension and other retirement benefits. In view of this amendment the respondent claimed that being a direct recruit to the Punjab Superior Judicial Service he was entitled to addition of actual period of practice at the bar not exceeding 10 years to his qualifying service and, therefore, his pension and other retirement benefits have to be refixed. The High Court, in its turn, wrote to the Accountant General on 5-6-90 for refixation of his pension and other retirement benefits after giving him benefit of the amendment. The Accountant General, it appears, was not inclined to agree with this claim and, therefore, referred the matter to the State Government for correct interpretation of the Rule. On 25-2-91 the State Government decided that the notification dated 22-2-90 has only prospective effect and, therefore, benefit of the amended Rule 16 cannot be given to the respondent. He, therefore, filed a writ petition in the High Court inter alia praying that the Union of India and the State Government be directed to give benefit of the amended Rule 16 to him and to compute his pension afresh in accordance with the said provision. The stand taken by the Union of India was that it was not really concerned with the subject-matter of the petition and that it pertained to the State of Punjab. The State contended that the amended rule applies to those only who retired after 22-2-90.
(2.) The learned single Judge following the judgment of this Court in, D. S. Nakara v. Union of India, (1983) 1 SCC 305, held that all retired Judges irrespective of the date of retirement constitute one class and the benefits available under the amended Rule cannot be confined to the Judges who retired after the amendment. He, therefore, found the action of the State of Punjab as illegal, allowed the petition and directed the State of Punjab to refix pension of the respondent in accordance with the amended Rule with effect from 22-2-90 and to pay the arrears with interest at the rate of 18 per cent, per annum. The State of Punjab filed a Letters Patent Appeal. The Division Bench or the High Court dismissed it with a clarification that the prayer being restricted only to pension and not to other retirement benefits, the order passed by the learned single Judge should be read as confined to grant of pension only. The State has, therefore, filed this appeal.
(3.) The only controversy in this appeal is whether the High Court was right in directing refixation of pension of the respondent in accordance with amended Rule 16. The respondent, having retired as a Judge of a High Court and having elected to receive pension payable under Part III of the First Schedule to the Act his entitlement was as provided in paragraph 2 of that Schedule, which reads as under: "2. The pension payable to such a Judge shall be - (a) the pension to which he is entitled under the ordinary rules of his service if he had not been appointed a Judge, his service as a Judge being treated as service therein for the purpose of calculating that pension; and (b) ********** ;