JUDGMENT :

1. This intra Court appeal is filed by the State of Uttar Pradesh through its officials, questioning the judgment and order dated 19.8.2021, passed by learned Single Judge in Writ Petition No. 3660 of 2021, directing the appellant State to include the services rendered by respondent/petitioner from 1.1.1989 to 31.12.2018 i.e. prior to his regularization, towards qualifying service, and take a decision for payment of pension and other retiral dues. Aforesaid direction came to be issued after the appellant State had filed a counter-affidavit, opposing the prayer made in the writ, to which a rejoinder was also filed. The parties in the appeal are already represented and with their consent the dispute raised is being disposed of, at the admission stage itself, without calling for any further affidavits.

2. We have heard Sri Rama Nand Pandey, learned Additional Chief Standing Counsel for the appellant State and Sri Bharat Pratap Singh for the respondent/petitioner and have perused the materials on record.

3. Shorn of unnecessary details, the facts of the case are that the respondent/petitioner was appointed on the post of Junior Engineer in the Minor Irrigation Department of State, on daily wage basis, on 1.1.1989. Having continued in such capacity, he approached Lucknow Bench of this Court with the grievance that the authorities have arbitrarily denied him benefit of minimum of pay scale; as also regularization, though he has worked for sufficiently long. The writ petition No. 1436 (SS) of 1997 was entertained and following directions were issued on 21.2.1997:

''Learned Standing Counsel accepts notice and is granted six weeks' time to file a counter-affidavit. Rejoinder-affidavit if any, may be filed within two weeks thereafter.

List and connect with writ petition No. 5224 (SS) of 1994. Meanwhile, it is provided that the opposite parties shall consider the case of petitioners for regularization against the existing vacancies as they have completed more than 5 years of service as daily wagers. They are Junior Engineer, thereafter, they should be paid atleast minimum of the pay scale to which a regular Junior Engineer is entitled.''

(Emphasis supplied by us)

4. The Chief Engineer of the Minor Irrigation Department on 3.9.1997 thus issued directions for payment of salary to respondent/petitioner in the scale admissible to the Junior Engineer i.e. Rs. 1400-2300/-. The Executive Engineer also issued a consequential order, posting the respondent/petitioner as Junior Engineer in the office of Assistant Engineer (Rig) Lalitpur. The respondent/petitioner was petitioner No. 2 in Writ Petition No. 1436 (SS) of 1997, which came to be disposed of finally vide following orders passed on 7.1.2009:

''In this case at the time of filing of writ petition an ad-interim order was passed on 21.2.1997 providing therein that the petitioner shall be paid minimum of pay scale to which a regular Junior Engineer is entitled.

Considering the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case and the fact that the petitioners have put in more than 20 years of service with the respondents and burnt their youth for the department, the interest of justice would suffice, if their cases are considered for regularisation under relevant provisions of Regularisation Rules within a maximum period of three months from the date of production of a certified copy of this order.

With the aforesaid observations and directions, this writ petition is disposed of finally.''

5. The Chief Engineer apparently sought legal advise from the Department of Personnel, which opined that the provisions of the Uttar Pradesh (posts within the purview of Public Service Commission) Regularisation of Ad hoc Appointments (Third Amendment) Rules, 2001, notified on 20th December, 2001, relied upon by the respondent/petitioner for seeking regularization of his services are not applicable and, consequently the claim for regularization was rejected vide order dated 14.1.2011.

6. Aggrieved by the aforesaid