Gujarat High Court
Gujarat Judicial Service Asso.Thro ... vs Hon'Ble High Court Of Gujarat Thro ... on 26 April, 2016
Author: Akil Kureshi
Bench: Akil Kureshi, A.Y. Kogje
C/SCA/10871/2011 ORDER
IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 10871 of 2011
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GUJARAT JUDICIAL SERVICE ASSO.THRO PRESIDENT,B.P.
MUNSHI....Petitioner(s)
Versus
HON'BLE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT THRO REGISTRAR GENERAL &
2....Respondent(s)
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Appearance:
MR AJ YAGNIK, ADVOCATE for the Petitioner(s) No. 1
GOVERNMENT PLEADER for the Respondent(s) No. 2 - 3
LAW OFFICER BRANCH, ADVOCATE for the Respondent(s) No. 1
MR MEHUL S SHAH, ADVOCATE for the Respondent(s) No. 1
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CORAM: HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE AKIL KURESHI
and
HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE A.Y. KOGJE
Date : 26/04/2016
ORAL ORDER
(PER : HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE AKIL KURESHI)
1. This petition is filed by the Gujarat Judicial Service Association, whose members are the judicial officers of the State of Gujarat. They have prayed for a declaration that the Government Resolution dated 18.03.2005, annexed at Annexure:A to the petition, does not apply to them. Under such resolution, the Government of Gujarat has made New Defined Contribution Pension Scheme effective from 01.04.2005 Page 1 of 3 HC-NIC Page 1 of 3 Created On Fri Apr 29 01:33:16 IST 2016 C/SCA/10871/2011 ORDER and which would compulsorily cover all Government employees appointed after the said date. The case of the petitioner association is that the judicial officers appointed by the State have not been included in the said scheme and in any case, could not be included by the State Government without the consultation of the High Court. Besides several other legal contentions, the petitioner places heavy reliance on the recommendations made by the High Court to the State Government conveyed under letter dated 20.02.2009 of the Registrar General in this regard.
2. Detailed reasons have been cited in such recommendations to suggest to the State Government that New Defined Pension Scheme should not be made applicable to the judicial officers of the State.
3. When the matter was taken up for hearing, we inquired with the learned Additional Advocate General Shri Jani as to how the said recommendations of the High Court were considered by the State Government.
4. Upon instructions, learned counsel Shri Jani stated that due to communication gap between the two departments, such recommendations were lost sight of Page 2 of 3 HC-NIC Page 2 of 3 Created On Fri Apr 29 01:33:16 IST 2016 C/SCA/10871/2011 ORDER and have never been addressed by the Government. He assured that at the highest level, a decision would be taken and conveyed to the Court as early as possible.
5. When a question of making major changes in pay and allowances of the members of subordinate judiciary is concerned and when the High Court has made detailed recommendations backed by reasons, we expect the State authorities to give such recommendations its due weightage. We are sure, bearing in mind all relevant aspects of the matter, the State Government shall take a proper decision in connection with the recommendations of the High Court. The outcome of the deliberations be placed before the Court on the next date of hearing. Stand over to 14.06.2016.
(AKIL KURESHI, J.) (A.Y. KOGJE, J.) ANKIT Page 3 of 3 HC-NIC Page 3 of 3 Created On Fri Apr 29 01:33:16 IST 2016