Full Judgment Text
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PETITIONER:
GURMESH PRAKASH BISHNOI
Vs.
RESPONDENT:
STATE OF HARYANA & ORS.
DATE OF JUDGMENT05/05/1988
BENCH:
SUJATA V. MANOHAR, G.B. PATTANAIK
ACT:
HEADNOTE:
JUDGMENT:
THE 5TH DAY OF MAY, 1998
Present:
Hon’ble Mrs. Justice Sujata V. Manohar
Hon’ble Mr. Justice G.B. Pattanaik
B.S. Malik, Sr. Adv., K.S. Chauhan, Adv. with him for the
appellant
Ms. Nandini Gore, Prem Malhotra, Advs., for the Respondents
O R D E R
The following Order of the Court was delivered:
Special leave granted.
Heard both sides.
The appellant was appointed as member of the Haryana
Public Service Commission with effect from 4.3.80. He
continued as a member of the Haryana Public Service
Commission till 28.8.84 when he was appointed as Chairman of
the Haryana Public Service Commission. He continued as
Chairman of the Haryana Public Service Commission for a
period of six years up to 27.8.90. The appellant was granted
pension at the rate of Rs. 1,800/- per month for his
services as Chairman of the Haryana Public Service
Commission.
The appellant contends that in addition, he is also
entitled to pension for his services as a member of the
Haryana Public Service Commission for a period of 4 years, 5
months and 24 days. The relevant Regulation of the haryana
Government known as the Haryana Public Service Commission
(Conditions of Service) Regulations, 1972 is Regulation
9A(1). The relevant portion of Regulation 9A is as follows:
9A(1): "Subject to the provisions
of these regulations, every person,
who, on or after the Ist day of
November, 1966, ceases to hold the
office of the Chairman or the
Member, shall, with effect from the
Ist December, 1973 or the date of
his ceasing to hold the office,
whichever is later, be entitled to
pension for his life at the rate of
two hundred rupees per month for
each completed year of service as
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the Chairman or the Member, as the
case may be, rendered after the
31st day of October, 1966, subject
to a maximum of eight hundred and
fifty rupees and seven hundred and
fifty rupees per month
respectively:
...................................
...................................
...................................
Provided further that no pension
shall be payable during the period
for which................the Member
may, after his retirement as such,
hold office as .............the
Chairman of H.P.S.C. or of any
other State Public Service
Commission."
The quantum of pension has since been revised to
Rs.250/- per month for a member and Rs.300/- per month for
the Chairman. The maximum quantum of pension has also been
revised to Rs. 1,800/- per month in the case of the Chairman
and Rs. 1,500/- per month in the case of a member. The
appellant is entitled to the benefit of the revised amount.
Under Rule 9A(1) two separate ceilings are provided;
one for the pension of a Chairman and the other for the
pension of a member. The question is whether a person who
has acted both as a member and subsequently as a Chairman,
will be entitled to a pension only on the basis of his
services as a Chairman or whether he will also be entitled
to a separate pension on the basis of his services as a
member of the Haryana Public Service Commission. Under the
Union Public Service Commission (Members) Regulations 1969,
there is an express provision contained in Explanation (II)
to Regulation 9 which provides that when the total service
for pension is rendered by a person, partly as a member and,
partly as a Chairman, the pension Admissible to such person
shall be the aggregate of the pension calculated separately
for each such term as a member and as a Chairman. In the
Haryana Public Service Commission (Regulations) 1972 there
is no such express provision. However, the proviso to Rule
9A throws some light on the manner in which the pension is
to be calculated. Under the proviso, when a member of the
Haryana Public Service Commission retires as a member, he
would be entitled to pension as a member. However, if he
thereafter holds office (inter alia) as the Chairman of the
Haryana Public Service Commission, he will not get any
pension during the period for which he holds office as
Chairman. There is an embargo on his receiving pension as a
member during the period he functions as a Chairman. Once he
ceased to function as a Chairman the embargo is lifted and
he would be entitled to get pension as a member for the
period during which he served as a member of the Haryana
Public Service Commission. This, of course, will be subject
to the ceiling prescribed under Regulation 9A. At the same
time as the Chairman of the Haryana Public Service
Commission, for the period of service rendered by him as
Chairman, he would also get pension at the rate prescribed
under Regulation 9A subject to the maximum. The appellant
is, therefore, entitled to pension as a member for the
service he rendered as a member prior to his appointment as
Chairman subject to the maximum, as also pension as Chairman
of the Haryana Public Service Commission calculated on the
basis of the period during which he held office of the
Chairman, subject to a maximum as laid down in Regulation
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9A. The appeal is allowed accordingly. The impugned order of
the High Court is set aside.