In relief for five retired sessions judges, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has allowed four increments each in their revised pay scales from January 1, 1996. Pronouncing the orders, Justice Permod Kohli today allowed the petitions of five retired judicial officers - K.K. Garg, former registrar general of Punjab and Haryana High Court; Amarjit Singh Sodhi, J.P. Gupta, G.S. Khurana and Hardev Pal Singh.The petitioners had submitted that when the pay scale of the Punjab government employees were revised under Punjab Civil Services (revised pay Rules, 1998), each of the officers should have been given four stagnation increments, but they never received any money. Their claim to the increments was, however, overturned when the recommendations of the Shetty Commission were implemented under Supreme Court orders. The Punjab government had said then that the Shetty Commission had not provided for the payment of any such increment. The High Court today repealed this contention, pointing out that recommendation 15.94 of Shetty Commission had clearly provided for stagnation increment and allowed increments to the retired judicial officers.
