IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH State of Punjab and others ......Appellants Vs.

Lakhbir Singh Gill PIS (A) Retired ......Respondent Reserved on : 19.01.2026 Pronounced on : 24.02.2026 Uploaded on : 27.02.2026 Whether only the operative part of the judgment is pronounced? NO Whether full judgment is pronounced? YES CORAM: HON’BLE MRS. JUSTICE SUDEEPTI SHARMA Present : Mr. Ravneet S. Joshi, DAG, Punjab, for the appellants.

Mr. Nikhil Sabharwal, Advocate, for the respondent.

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SUDEEPTI SHARMA J .

1. The present Regular Second Appeal is preferred against the judgment and decree dated 12.12.2019 passed by learned Civil Judge (Junior Division), Hoshiarpur, whereby the civil suit filed by the respondent was decreed in his favour as well as against the judgment and decree dated 29.07.2023 passed by learned Additional District Judge, Hoshiarpur, whereby appeal preferred by the appellants against the judgment and decree dated 12.12.2019 was also dismissed.

BRIEF FACTS

2. Brief facts of the case are that respondent was appointed as Technical Specialist (Chemical Engineer), in the Department of Industries, on 01.01.1974, in the then pay scale of Rs.350-900. As such the service rendered by respondent with the appellants was 24 years, 09 months i.e. 25 years. Besides this, respondent also worked as Science/Maths teacher in Government Senior Secondary School, Hadiabad (Phagwara), District Kapurthala, on Ad hoc basis in the year 1964-65. From 01.03.1974 to 30.11.1998, respondent rendered uninterrupted government service for a period of 24 years and 9 months. Respondent retired on 30.11.1998 after attaining the age of superannuation, i.e. 58 years, as Senior Technical Officer (Class-I) from the Department of Industries and Commerce, Government of Punjab, in the pay scale of Rs.10,025-15,100. The recommendations of the 6th Central Pay Commission came into effect on 01.01.2006. Consequently, the aforesaid pay scale of Rs.10,025-15,100 stood revised to Rs.15,600- 39,100 plus Grade Pay of Rs.7,600. Government of Punjab constituted the 5th Punjab Pay Commission to recommend measures, including revision of pensionary benefits, applicable to pre-01.01.2006 pensioners. The Department of Finance, Government of Punjab, issued Notification-cum- Circular No. 3/23/09-513FPPC/885 dated 17.08.2009 regarding implementation of the recommendations of the 5th Punjab Pay Commission and revision of pension of pre-01.01.2006 pensioners. Para 4.2 stipulated that revised pension shall not be lower than 50% of the minimum of the pay in the pay band plus grade pay, subject to pro-rata reduction if qualifying service fell short of 33 years. The Department of Finance issued Notification-cum-Circular No.3/39/09-3-FPPC/201 dated 22.02.2010, partially modifying the circular dated 17.08.2009 by substituting the expression “minimum of the pay” with “initial pay” shown in column 8 of the schedule of the Punjab Civil Services (Revised Pay) Rules, 2009, while retaining the pro-rata clause relating to qualifying service of 33 years. The Department of Finance, Government of Punjab, issued Circular No.3/23/09- 3FPPC/1358 dated 15.12.2011 (Exhibit D-1), dispensing with the linkage of full pension with qualifying service of 33 years and providing that once a government employee has rendered minimum qualifying service of 25 years, pension shall be admissible equal to 50% of emoluments or average emoluments of the last ten months, whichever is beneficial. As per Para 3 of the circular dated 15.12.2011, the said orders were made effective from 01.12.2011. On 21.08.2016, Division Bench of this Court in State of Punjab and others versus A.P. Sharma and others, 2017 (1) SCT 322 held that though the circular dated 15.12.2011 was prospective, it had retroactive effect on pre-01.01.2006 retirees, entitling them to re-fixation of pension w.e.f. 01.12.2011. SLP (C) No. 8123 of 2017 filed against the judgment in A.P. Sharma’s case (supra) was dismissed by the Hon’ble Supreme Cou