Service matter - Forest department

Mahen­dra Pal Vs State of HP 26.10.2010

P. SATHASIVAM & DR. B.S. CHAUHAN, JJ.

Civil Appeal No. 9353 of 2010 (Aris­ing out of SLP © No. 30319 of 2008)

Ser­vice — For­est — appel­lant was appointed as a For­est Offi­cer in capac­ity of Super­in­ten­dent of Kut­le­har Forests under Sec­tion 2(2) of For­est Act by Noti­fi­ca­tion dated 01.10.1958 issued by then Gov­ern­ment of Pun­jab before for­ma­tion of State of Himachal Pradesh — said forests were under charge and man­age­ment of appel­lant and he was enti­tled to dis­pose of for­est pro­duce such as resin, tim­ber, bam­boo, grass etc — in accor­dance with work­ing plans pre­pared by For­est Depart­ment — (b) Dur­ing year 1995, when man­age­ment of Kut­le­har Forests was with appel­lant, he offered 1,33,591 resin blazes to Divi­sional Man­ager, HP State For­est Cor­po­ra­tion Ltd., Una (here­inafter referred to as ‘State Corporation’)-respondent No — 3 herein, for resin tap­ping, but on 14.02.1995, State Cor­po­ra­tion took over resin blazes so offered and invited ten­ders for under­tak­ing work of tap­ping — On 16.03.1995, appel­lant filed Civil Writ Peti­tion No — 127 of 1995 chal­leng­ing noti­fi­ca­tion dated 10.03.1995 in High Court — High Court passed interim order to effect that appel­lant would con­tinue with man­age­ment of forests — © On 25.04.1995, ‘Pric­ing Com­mit­tee’ of State Cor­po­ra­tion decided prices of resin blazes @ Rs 25/- per blaze for sea­son 1995 — (d) On 07.02.1996, man­age­ment of Kut­le­har Forests was taken over by State Cor­po­ra­tion in absen­tia — appel­lant, who was still in man­age­ment of Kut­le­har Forests, offered 1,33,591 resin blazes to Divi­sional Man­ager of State Cor­po­ra­tion, respon­dent No — 3 herein, for resin tap­ping dur­ing 1995 vide his let­ter dated 03.02.1995 — It is seen that by Noti­fi­ca­tion No — 4531-FT(CH-58/523 dated 1.10.1958 issued under Sec­tion 2(2) of Act, Raja Mahen­dra Pal was appointed as a For­est Super­in­ten­dent and employ­ees work­ing under him in afore­said for­est declared as For­est Offi­cers with respect to Kut­le­har For­est — Pro­duce of gov­ern­ment forests, there­after, could be sold only to State Cor­po­ra­tion — No dif­fer­en­tial rates or sys­tem can be fixed for Kut­le­har Forests.” On 5th Sep­tem­ber, 1995 and 6th Sep­tem­ber, 1995, let­ters were addressed respec­tively to plain­tiff and Man­ag­ing Direc­tor, HP State For­est Cor­po­ra­tion — Presently, Kut­le­har For­est is under State Gov­ern­ment — It is true that after 11.03.1995, appel­lant can­not have any right over for­est pro­duce — Admit­tedly, appel­lant was asked to look after for­est pro­duce as Super­in­ten­dent of Forests and in lieu of salary he was assured grant of 3/4th of price of resin blaze — It is also specif­i­cally pleaded that before appointed day, ie 11.03.1995, he was still in man­age­ment of Kut­le­har Forests, offered 1,33,591 resin blazes to Divi­sional Man­ager of State Cor­po­ra­tion at Una for resin tap­ping dur­ing 1995 vide let­ter dated 03.02.1995.

Service matter - Forest department