pendency of Writ Petition.”

2. The precise grouse of the petitioners in the present petition is that the entire service rendered by the respondent from the initial date of his eHngagement on daily wage basis till the date of his retirement could not have been taken into account for the purpose of calculating the gratuity. The undisputed facts are that the respondent was initially engaged on dailyt wage basis as Beldar (Class-IV) in Public Works Department in the year 2000. His services were regularized in the year 2012 and he retired from service on 31.01.2017. The entire service rendered by the respondent from the date of his engagement on daily wage hbasis till his superannuation came to be 16 years and 6 months, with 240 days in each calendar year w.e.f. 01.08.2000 to 31.01.2017. Since, the respondent was not paid the gratuity of the entire period, he filed an application under Section 7 of the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 (for short ‘the Act’), before the Controlling Authority Mandi Zone, Mandi, H.P., who vide order dated 31.03.2018 allowed the same and calculated the amount of ₹1,45,385/- in terms of the provision of Section 4(2) of the Act and awarded interest on the said amo