Ashwani Kumar Singh, J. - (1.) Prayers of the petitioner as made in para-1 of the writ petition read as under :- "1. That the present writ application is being filed for issuance of an appropriate writ or writs, order or orders, direction or directions for grant of the following reliefs :- a) That, this Hon'ble Court be pleased to command the respondents to pay to the petitioner the amounts of Voluntary Retirement benefits alongwith all arrears etc. strictly in terms of VRS scheme of schedule 9 of the agreement and terms & conditions of the service of the petitioner and agreement dtd. 26.03.2002 alongwith penal interest @ 18% p.a. from the date it was payable till the date of actual payment as one time full settlement to be calculated on the date of final settlement. b) That, this Hon'ble Court be pleased to declare that the conduct of the Respondents No.1 to 3 jointly or severally failing to pay the predetermined VRS to the petitioner is ex-facie, arbitrary, discriminatory and violative of the petitioner's fundamental rights under Articles 14, 16 and 21 of the Constitution of India. c) That, this Hon'ble Court be pleased to issue a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction under article 226 of the Constitution of India directing the Respondent Nos. 1, 2 and 3 jointly and/or severally to pay the predetermined VRS as specifically undertaken and/or as per a share purchase agreement dtd. 26.03.2002 to the petitioner. d) In the alternative, this Hon'ble Court be pleased to direct the respondent No.1 to independently float and pay VRS to the petitioner in accordance with their specific undertaking. e) That, this Hon'ble Court be pleased to declare the share purchase agreement dtd. 26.03.2002 as arbitrary, unreasonable, contrary to the provisions of section 23 of the Contract Act and also violative of Article 14 of the Constitution by virtue of the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court reported in (2007) 14 SCC 234 as the petitioner as well as the other employees of the respondent No.2 were transferred to private organization from a public sector undertaking without their specific consent and they were neither party to any tripartite agreement nor were they heard before changing their service conditions. If the respondents fail to make the VRS payment as stated above to the petitioner, in that case, the petitioner be allowed to remain in the service of the Respondent No.2 (seller) and he be paid his all the dues & benefits alongwith the interest since the date he was denied those benefits by the respondent No.3 (purchaser). f) That, this Hon'ble Court be pleased to issue an appropriate writ, direction or order restraining the 3rd Respondent from in any manner selling leasing/transferring the shares of the said establishment or retrenching, transferring discharging or terminating the petitioner prior to the payment of VRS to him. g) That, pending the hearing and final disposal of this petition this Hon'ble Court be pleased to restrain the 3 rd respondent from retrenching, dismissing, transferring or terminating the services of the petitioner. h) That, pending the hearing and final disposal of this petition this Hon'ble Court be pleased to restrain the 3 rd Respondent from selling and/or leasing out the Indo Hokke Hotel at Rajgir, Nalanda, Bihar and/or from transferring the Shares or parting with possession/control of the same without first paying VRS to the petitioner. i) That, for any other appropriate reliefs to which the petitioner may be entitled to."
(2.) The admitted facts of the case are that the petitioner was appointed as Accounts Assistant-cum-General Cashier with effect from 10.11.1984 by the Centaur Hokke Hotel, a single unit at Rajgir, Nalanda of Indo Hokke Hotels Limited, a subsidiary of Hotel Corporation of India Limited. The service of the petitioner was confirmed on the said post with effect from 01.05.1985 by the Centaur Hokke Hotel, Rajgir. He was promoted to the post of Front Office Receptionist with effect from 01.11.1987 and confirmed to the said post with effect from 01.05.1988. Again he was promoted as an Accountant with effect from 19.03.1997 and confirmed on the said post with effect from 19.09.1997. He was then promoted on the post of Assistant Manager (Accounts) with effect from 10.05.2001 vide order dated 11.05.2001.
(3.) The Ministry of Civil Aviation, vide its letter dated 01.06.2001 addressed to the Hotel Corporation of India Limited informed that pursuant to its proposal for introduction of a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (for short "VRS") in the eventuality of disinvestment, it has been decided that all the bidders should have to give VRS to the existing employees as per the guidelines issued by the Department of Public Enterprise and the terms of such VRS would not be inferior to the scheme framed by the Department of Public Enterprise. Subsequently, a cabinet committee on its disinvestment approved the proposal regarding disinvestment of the Hotel Corporation of India and, accordingly, the petitioner as well as other employees of Indo Hokke Hotel Limited were paid as per their pay scales along with the benefits of D.A., H.R.A., Service Charge, annual increment, revision of pay, leave, Medical, Hospitalization, LTC and Leave Encashment facilities etc.;