JUDGMENT S.B. SINHA, J :

1. Leave granted.

2. Whether a person who has resigned from service is entitled to the benefit of revision of scale of pay with retrospective effect is the question involved in this appeal which arises out of a judgment and order dated 11.01.2006 passed by the Division Bench of the Kerala High Court in Writ Appeal No. 2004 of 2005.

3. Appellant herein was employed as Director (Finance) in the respondent No. 2 company which is an undertaking of respondent No. 1. He was a full time employee. He resigned from services on 23.05.1995.

4. The Government of India subsequently issued an office memorandum (OM) dated 19.07.1995 whereby and whereunder the scales of pay for the top posts, i.e., `executives holding board level posts were revised with effect from 1.01.1992. We are concerned herein with Schedule `C posts in respect whereof existing scale of pay of Rs. 7500-200-8500 was revised to Rs. 10000-400-12000.

Para 8 of the said OM dated 19.07.1995, which is material for our purpose, reads as under: "8. The administrative Ministries are requested to fix the pay of the incumbents of the Board level posts who were in employment in their enterprises as on 1.1.92 in the manner indicated above and forward their files to the DPE for vetting as required under the existing instructions contained in BPEs DO letter No. 1/1/89-BPE (S&A) Cell dated 14.2.89 and DOPTs OM No. 27(14)/C0/89 (ACC) dated 6.12.89, and as per procedure indicated in Annexure -IV."

5. On or about 1.01.1996, appellant made a representation requesting payment of arrears of pay revision inter alia on the ground that he, having been in service on 1.01.1992, was entitled to the benefit of the said OM dated 19.07.1995. The said prayer was rejected by respondent by an order dated 31.01.1996, stating:

"This has reference to your letter dated 1.1.96 requesting for making the pay revision w.e.f. 1.1.92 applicable to you while you were in the service of the Corporation. Please note that the Office Memorandum dated 19.7.95 issued by the Secretary to Government of India directing the revision of scales of pay of Scheduled posts w.e.f. 1.1.92 specifically contains a clause that all the Administrative Ministries/ Departments are required to issue presidential directives to the concerned Public Sector Enterprises under its administrative control to give effect to the said revision. Please note that the Industries Department of the BPE of Kerala State Government has not issued any specific directive to the Public Sector Undertakings in Kerala for making the above revision effective. Hence, we are unable to consider your request."

6. Appellant made another representation before respondent No. 1 on 14.02.1996 which has been turned down by the Government of Kerala by a letter dated 30.07.1996, stating:

"I am to invite your attention to the letter cited and to inform that the State Government have not yet adopted the revised Central BPE schedules in respect of SLPES. As such, Government regrets their inability to concede to your request."

7. Appellant filed a writ petition upon serving a legal notice on the respondents.

By reason of a judgment and order dated 23.03.2005, a learned Single Judge of the said High Court dismissed the said writ petition stating that as appellant was not in service when the said OM dated 19.07.1995 was issued, he was not entitled to any relief. An Intra-court appeal preferred thereagainst has been dismissed by a Division Bench of the said Court by reason of the impugned judgment, directing:

"2. There was no response, and the original petition had come to be filed. The matter had been looked into by the learned Judge and he found no reasons to encourage the application as according to him, it suffers from laches and it is not as if settled rights automatically are there in favour of the appellant. We find no error in the reasoning so as to interfere with the findings as above."

8. Mr. K. Vishwanathan, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the