Himachal Pradesh High Court
Puneet Kumar vs Himachal Pradesh Road Transport ... on 26 December, 2022
Bench: Tarlok Singh Chauhan, Virender Singh
1
IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA
Civil Writ Petition No.7947 of 2022
Date of decision : 26th December, 2022
.
Puneet Kumar ...... Petitioner
Versus
Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (HRTC)
......Respondents
Coram:
The Hon'ble Mr. Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan, Judge.
The Hon'ble Mr. Justice Virender Singh, Judge.
1
Whether approved for reporting?
For the Petitioner : Mr. Dheeraj Kanwar, Advocate.
For the Respondents : Mr. Shyam Singh, Advocate.
Tarlok Singh Chauhan, Judge (oral)
Notice. Mr. Shyam Singh, learned counsel, appears and waives service of notice on behalf of the respondents.
2. The instant petition has been filed for grant of the following relief(s):-
a). Issue a writ of Mandamus or other appropriate writ or direction as this Hon'ble Court deems fit directing the Respondent to treat the contractual appointment/service of the petitioner as TMPA w.e.f.
10.12.2015 as regular service with all consequential benefits and thus consequential modify/quash the order dated 10.12.2015 (Annexure P-1), as well as 30.08.2018 (Annexure P-3), ccordingly.
1 Whether reporters of Local Papers may be allowed to see the judgment?
::: Downloaded on - 29/12/2022 20:33:06 :::CIS 2b). Issue a writ of Mandamus or other appropriate writ or direction as this Hon'ble Court deems fit directing the Respondent to give the benefit of regular service .
to the Petitioner with effect from the initial dates of his appointment on contractual terms (i.e. 10.12.2014) with all consequential benefits, for all intents and purposes.
c). Consequentially, issue a writ of Mandamus or other appropriate writ or direction as this Hon'ble Court deems fit, directing the Respondent to consider the service of the petitioner to be reckoned for seniority and for all terminal benefits as and when they fall due and pay of the petitioner accordingly be fixed.
d). Accordingly Issue a writ of Mandamus or other appropriate writ or direction as this Hon'ble Court deems fit, directing the Respondent to pay arrears of salary payable to the petitioner on regular basis w.e.f. 30.08.2018 and be computed and paid over to him within two months from the date of the order along with interest and all consequential benefits.
e). In Alternative Issue a writ of Mandamus or other appropriate writ or direction as this Hon'ble Court deems fit in the facts and circumstances of the case by directing the respondent to consider the representation dated 29.08.2022 in terms of the law as well as the judgment dated 8.2.2019 in Civil Appeal Nos.16158-16165/2016 (HRTC v. Lekh Ram & others) within a time bound manner."
3. According to the learned counsel for the petitioner, the matter is squarely covered by the judgment rendered by a Co-ordinate Bench of ::: Downloaded on - 29/12/2022 20:33:06 :::CIS 3 this Court in LPA No.42 of 2015 alognwith connected matters titled Himachal Road Transport Corporation vs. Lekh Ram, decided on 27.2.2016, which judgment has been affirmed by the Hon'ble Supreme .
Court, in Civil Appeal Nos.1557-1564 of 2019, titled Himachal Road Trnasport Corporation vs. Lekh Ram etc. etc. This is a matter which is required to be considered and decided by the respondent-
Corporation.
4. Accordingly, without going into the merits of the case, we deem it appropriate to dispose of the instant petition by directing the respondents to consider and decide the case of the petitioner in light of the judgment in Lekh Ram's case (supra) and in case the claim of the petitioner is found to be covered by the said judgment, then same and similar benefits, as granted in Lekh Ram's case (supra) be also granted in favour of the petitioner within a period of eight weeks from today. Ordered accordingly. Pending applications, if any, also stands disposed of.
5. For compliance, to come up on 27.3.2023.
( Tarlok Singh Chauhan ) Judge ( Virender Singh) Judge December 26, 2022 (ks) ::: Downloaded on - 29/12/2022 20:33:06 :::CIS