JUDGMENT

MARKANDEY KATJU, J.—

1.Writ Petition No. 4648/2002 titled Union of India and another v. S.R. Dhingra and others was filed in the Delhi High Court and was thereafter transferred to this Court by order dated 9.5.2006 in Transfer Petition (Civil) No. 278 of 2005.

2.It appears that similar matters were pending before the Delhi High Court, Punjab & Haryana High Court and Central Administrative Tribunal and further proceedings in those cases were ordered to be stayed awaiting the judgment in the matter which was transferred to this Court by the order dated 9.5.2006.

3.The facts of the case are that in the Railways there are certain employees such as drivers, guards, shunters etc, who go along with the railway train and are categorized as Running Staff. Such staffs are entitled to an allowance called Running Allowance which is apart from their salary. Computation of pension after retirement in the railways is made on the basis of average emoluments plus a part of the running allowance which is included in average emoluments in terms of Rule 2544(g) of the Indian Railway Establishment Code. The present dispute relates to the pension for the running staff who retired prior to 1986.

4.