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IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH AT

SHIMLA

CWP No.6983 of 2022

th

Decided on 22 April 2026

Joginder Singh and others

…Petitioners

Versus

State of Himachal Pradesh and others

…Respondents

Coram

Hon’ble Mr. Justice Ajay Mohan Goel, Judge

1

Whether approved for reporting? Yes

For the petitioners: Ms. Anjali Soni Verma, Advocate.

For the respondents: Mr. Pushpinder Jaswal, Additional

Advocate General.

Ajay Mohan Goel, Judge (Oral

By way of this writ petition, the petitioners have,

inter alia, prayed for the following reliefs:-

“i. That the office order dated 01.03.2016

contained in Annexure P-4 whereby the claim of

the petitioner for grant of pay scale of Rs.800-

1455 revised to Rs.2520-4140 has been

rejected may kindly be quashed and set aside.

ii. That the respondents may kindly be

directed to give the scale of Rs.800-1455 to the

petitioner w.e.f. his regularization by further

directing the respondents to give the revised

scale of Rs.2720-4260 w.e.f. 01.01.1996.”

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2. The case of the petitioners is that they were initially

engaged on daily wage basis and upon completion of 10 y.ears

of daily wage service, their services were regularized.

According to the petitioners, their services wereH regularized in

the pay scale of Rs.750-1350/- with an initial start of Rs.770/-

per month. At the time of their regularization, they were not

aware of the pay scale prescribed for their respective category

by the Department and it was only in the year 1998, that a

notification was issueud by the Department on 01.09.1998,

which was douly forwarded to all Superintending

Engineers/ECxecutive Engineers, in terms whereof, the pay

scale of various categories of employees were revised w.e.f.

01.01.1996. According to the petitioners, they were semi-skilled

helpers and they used to operate the machinery installed at

H Pump Houses and, therefore, they could not have been

equated with the category of General Helpers, who were

enjoying the pay scale of Rs.770-1410/-. The petitioners

through their Karamchari Sangh represented to the respondent-

Department for the grant of the higher pay scale of Rs.800-

1455/-, which stood revised to Rs.2720-4260/- w.e.f.

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01.01.1996. The issue of the non-grant of the pay scale of

Rs.800-1455/- with effect from the date of the regularizati.on of

the petitioners and subsequent non-grant of the revised pay

scale was agitated by them through ArajpaHtrit Karamchari

Mahasangh before this Court by way of a writ petition.

According to the petitioners, said writ petition was transferred to

the Erstwhile Himachal Pradesh State Administrative Tribunal

and renumbered as TA No.3 of 2015. Said petition was

disposed of in terms ouf Annexure P-3, dated 16.09.2015, vide

which, the autohorities were directed to decide the

representatioCn, to be filed by the original applicants within the

time period prescribed therein. According to the petitioners,

thereafter, in terms of Annexure P-4, they was rejected by the

authorities on 01.03.2016 and feeling aggrieved, the petitioners

H have filed this writ petition.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioners was called upon

by the Court to explain the delays and laches in filing the writ

petition and further to demonstrate that the original application

was filed by the Himachal Pradesh Arajpatrit Karamchari Sangh

on behalf of the petitioners, as alleged. The query was

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specifically put to the learned counsel for the reason that in

terms of Annexure P-3, the original application was filed b.y the

Himachal Pradesh Arajpatrit Karamchari Sangh in the year

2003 through its President Sh. Jagdish KHumar Thakur,

whereas, Sh. Jagdish Kumar Thakur is not a party petitioner in

the present proceedings. Learned counsel for the petitioners

submitted that though there was nothing to demonstrate that

the said proceedings were filed at the behest of the petitioners,

but, this was a fact. u

4. As faor as the issue of d