S. P. Goyal, J. - (1.) The appellant was appointed as a Clerk in the Rehabilitation Department as Jullundur on April 11, 1950. In the year 1954, he was selected For appointment as a Clerk in the Postal Department where he joined oh May 2, 1955, after having been relieved from the Rehabilitation Department. He claimed that he was entitled to the benefit of the service which he rendered in the Rehabilitation Department in the fixation of his pay. Government however did not concede to his request which led to the filing of the present suit by him on March 7, 1967.
(2.) The plaintiff in support of his claim, relied on Memo No. F. 2 (42) E-III/6. dated 14th Sept., 1962 Ex. P. 2. As a matter of fact it was conceded by the learned counsel for the appellant that it was only under this circular that he was entitled to the benefit of his service rendered in the Rehabilitation Department and prior .thereto he had no such right. The Courts below dismissed his suit on the point of limitation on the ground that the right had accrued to him in the year 1955. This was a wholly erroneous view. The fact that the plaintiff had been claiming prior to the said circular that he was entitled to the benefit of the service rendered in the Rehabilitation Department is of no consequence because he had then admittedly no right to claim that benefit. The right to sue, therefore, accrued to him only on 14th Sept., 1964, when the said memo was issued by the President, the limitation being 6 years from the date the cause of action accrued, the suit filed on March 7, 1967, was within time The finding of the Courts below on the issue of limitation, is, therefore, reversed and it is .held (hat the suit was within limitation.
(3.) Although the two Courts below have not recorded any finding on the merits of the claim of the plaintiff but I do not propose to remand the case as 13 years have already passed when this suit was filed and the claim of the plaintiff depends only on the interpretation of the said memo The relevant portion of the memo read as thus:- "The President is accordingly pleased to decide that the posts in offices attached and subordinate to the Ministry of Rehabilitation (Now Deptt. of Rehabilitation) as detailed in the enclosed statement should be considered to have been created for the purpose of work of the same nature as the ordinary work for which permanent posts, on identical scales, exist in a cadre under other Department of Government of India." A bare perusal of this memo shows that the plaintiff is entitled to the benefit of the service rendered by him in the Rehabilitation Department. The language of this memo further makes it clear that the posts in the Rehabilitation Department are to be considered to have been created like the permanent posts in other Departments which necessarily means that these posts are to be treated permanent from the very inception. The plaintiff, therefore, would be entitled to the benefit of his service rendered in the rehabilitation Department from the date he joined the present Department.;