Entitlement to annual increments upon retirement is based on completed service and good conduct; denial based solely on retirement timing is arbitrary.

Order :

1. By way of filing the instant petition, a prayer has been made for issuing directions to the respondents to grant the benefit of one annual grade increment to the petitioner as he retired on 30.06.1997 i.e. a day prior to 1st July, 1997.

2. Counsel for the petitioner submits that the controversy involved in this petition has already been set at rest by this Court not only once but twice on two different occasions by deciding two different batch of writ petitions with the lead case of Vijay Singh Vs. State of Rajasthan & Ors., S.B. Civil Writ Petition No.21/2020 decided on 21.07.2023 and subsequently the same view was followed by this Court in the case of Ramesh Chandra Sharma Vs. The State of Rajasthan & Ors., S.B. Civil Writ Petition No.10939/2024 decided on 15.07.2024.

3. Counsel submits that while deciding the case of Ramesh Chandra Sharma (supra), the directions issued in the case of Vijay Singh (supra), were made in personam and all the aggrieved persons were directed to approach the State authorities for redressal of their grievances instead of approaching this Court time and again. Counsel submits that in pursuance of the directions issued by this Court in the case of Ramesh Chandra Sharma (supra), the petitioner approached the office of the respondents by way of filing a representation on 13.09.2024, but inspite of passing of considerable time, till date, the representation submitted by the petitioner has not been decided by the respondents for the reasons best-known to them. Hence, under these circumstances, the petitioner has approached this Court by way of filing of this petition.

4. Heard and considered the submissions made at Bar and perused the material available on the record.

5. This fact is not in dispute that the controversy involved in this petition has already been decided by this Court with the following directions:-

“30. Payment of salary and increment to an employee is regulated by the service rules governing his/her services. Annual increment are given to such persons to enable them to discharge the duties to the post and that pay and allowances are also attached to the post. Increment in pay is thus an integral part of progressive appointment and accrues from the day following on which it is earned.

31.There is a purpose for providing that increment earned accrues from the day following which it is earned. The grant of increment is not a matter of course and is dependent upon good conduct of the government servant for the entire year. It is, therefore natural that good conduct must be observed for the entire year before the increment accrues.

32. Annual increment though is attached to the post and becomes payable on a day following which it is earned but the day on which increment accrues or becomes payable is not conclusive or determinative. In the statutory scheme governing progressive appointment increment becomes due for the services rendered over a year by the government servant subject to his good behaviour. The pay of a government servant rises, by periodical increments, from a minimum to the maximum in the prescribed scale. The entitlement to receive increment therefore crystallises when the government servant completes requisite length of service with good conduct and becomes payable on the succeeding day.

33.Law is settled that where entitlement to receive a benefit crystallizes in law its denial would be arbitrary unless it is for a valid reason. The only reason for denying benefit of increment, culled out from the scheme is that the government servant is not holding the post on the day when the increment becomes payable. This cannot be a valid ground for denying increment since the day following the date on which increment is earned only serves the purpose of ensuring completion of a year's service with good conduct and no other purpose can be culled out for it. The concept of day following which the increment is earned has otherwise no purpose to achieve. In isolation of the purpose it se