The term 'last pay drawn' includes all allowances, not just basic pay, and failure to comply constitutes contempt.

J U D G M E N T

1. The petitioners, who were initially five in number, seek initiation of contempt proceedings against the respondents for wilful disobedience of the directions contained in the common order-cum- judgement dated 12.02.2019 (LPA Nos. 322, 333, 334, 335 & 345/2018) of the Division Bench of this Court and the common order dated 08.11.2019 passed by the Division Bench in review petitions (R.P. Nos. 126, 141 & 142/2019) and CM Application No.22027/2019, in terms of the provision of Article 215 of the Constitution of India, 1950, read with Section 12 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 (The CC Act).

2. Shorn of unnecessary details, the petitioners, some of whom retired as the judicial officers from the District Courts of Delhi, while others from the Executive Department of the GNCTD (Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi) were appointed as Members in the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (SCDRC) and District Consumer Redressal Forums (DCRF) in Delhi.

3. In terms of Amended Rules 3(1)(b) and 6(1)(b) of the Delhi Consumer Protection Rules, 1987 (The Rules), as amended vide the notification dated 17.09.2013, it is stated that upon appointment as Members in the aforesaid authorities viz. , SCDRC and DCRF, the petitioners had the option to receive salaries based on the last pay drawn minus their pension.

4. At this juncture, it may be clarified that, except for the petitioner No.4/Shri O.P. Gupta, the remaining petitioners have since been granted appropriate reliefs by the respondents.

5. The original petitioners initially preferred writ petitions (W.P.(C) 3134/2015, W.P.(C) 10512/2015, W.P.(C) 10516/2015, W.P.(C) 10518/2015, W.P.(C) 10531/2015, W.P.(C) 8423/2015, W.P.(C) 8976/2015, W.P.(C) 4055/2016, W.P.(C) 4508/2016, W.P.(C) 9746/2016) under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, 1950, which were later clubbed together, seeking prayers to the effect that the „ last pay drawn ‟ included the allowances and perquisites as well, which were unlawfully denied to them by the respondents. The said writ petitions were initially dismissed vide judgment dated 11.05.2018 by a learned Single Judge of this Court.

6. Aggrieved thereof, the petitioners preferred the aforesaid Letters Patent Appeals and the Division Bench of this Court vide order dated 12.02.2019 passed the following directions: -

“25. For the above reasons, the impugned judgment of the learned Single Judge is accordingly set aside. It is declared that the expression 'last pay drawn' occurring in the proviso to Rule 3 (1) (b) and Rule 6(1) (b) of the Rules would include not only basic pay but also Dearness Allowance. The emoluments payable to the Appellants for the period during which they served as Members of the DCDRF or SCRDC shall be re-worked accordingly and the arrears paid to each of them by the Respondents within a period of eight weeks from today, failing which the Respondents would be liable to pay simple interest @ 6%per annum on the said sum till the date of payment.

26. The appeals are accordingly allowed but in the circumstances with no order as to costs. The pending applications are also disposed of.”

7. However, the appellants/petitioners were constrained to prefer review petitions, raising a short question to the effect that the expression „last pay drawn‟ occurring in the proviso to Rules 3(1)(b) and 6(1)(b) of the Rules would include „ not only basic pay but also all other allowances including dearness allowance ‟. The review petitions were allowed, and in the operative portion of the directions contained in the order dated 08.11.2019, it was declared that the expression „last pay drawn‟ would include not only the Basic Pay but all other allowances including dearness allowances 9 , which were drawn prior to the appointment as Member of either the SCDRC and DCRF.

8. Insofar as the present petitioner No.4/Shri O.P. Gupta is concerned, who served for about five years and six months in the SCDRC, the issue remains pending about t