Dr. Shri Krishna Choudhary vs The State of Jharkhand and Others

D.G.R. Patnaik, J.—It appears from the counter affidavit of the respondent State Government, sworn by the Under Secretary, Department of Health, that the retiral benefits including pension and gratuity have been sanctioned and the same has been forwarded to the office of the Accountant General, Jharkhand way back in 2005 and the final payment of the GPF has also been sanctioned and forwarded to the District Provident Fund Officer, Jamshedpur and the District Provident Fund Officer, Jamshedpur is required to comply with the sanction order for payment of the amount of the GPF to the petitioner and it is for the office of the Accountant General, Jharkhand to issue the Authority Slip to enable the payments of the retiral benefits including pension and gratuity to the petitioner.

As regards the petitioner''s claim for payment of salary for the period of absence which has been treated as period of leave, it is stated that the Health Department, Government of Jharkhand has not received any application from the petitioner for regularization of the leave period and a letter of request has been issued to the Department of Health, Government of Bihar to intimate the factual position and send relevant documents regarding the leave period of the petitioner.

In the counter affidavit of the respondent State of Bihar, a declaration has been made on affidavit that period of the petitioner''s absence has been sanctioned as leave and necessary communication in this regard has already been forwarded to the Department of Health, State of Jharkhand by the concerned department of the State of Bihar. This aspect of the statement contained in the counter affidavit of the respondent State of Bihar was taken note of by this Court while recording the order on the last date.

Learned Counsel for the respondent State informs that pursuant to the order passed by this Court on the last date, he had issued a letter seeking necessary instructions regarding the compliance of the directions contained in the order including payment of the amount of salary for the leave period which has already been sanctioned by the State of Bihar for the relevant period. Beamed counsel is not able to explain the contradictory statements as appearing in para 9 of the counter affidavit filed today.

As regards the claim for payment of retiral dues having been sanctioned, counsel for the petitioner informs that till date not a single farthing has been paid to the petitioner towards his retiral dues.

In support of the contention that the letter purporting to the grant of sanction for payment of pension and gratuity to the petitioner being forwarded to the office of the Accountant General, Jharkhand, a copy of the letter (annexure-A) has been filed. On a perusal of this letter it appears that it has been addressed to the Accountant General, Bihar, Patna and not to the Accountant General, Jharkhand. Apparently, the deponent of the affidavit has not looked into the documents and has made an irresponsible, misleading and incorrect statement in his affidavit. Since after the reorganization of the State, the works of the office of the Accountant General, Bihar has also been reallocated to the office of the Accountant General, Jharkhand, Ranchi, there could be no occasion or need for forwarding the letter of sanction to the office of the Accountant General, Bihar, Patna.

As regards the petitioner''s claim for non-practicing allowance, his definite assertion is that he had submitted the non-practicing certificate in the prescribed format in the office of the Superintendent of Police, Jamshedpur much within the prescribed time. If this is so, then it was the duty of the office of the Superintendent of Police to forward the same to the concerned department in the State of Bihar for necessary orders regarding payment of non-practicing allowance to the petitioner. As it appears from the statements contained in the counter affidavit of the respondent State of Bihar, such application was received much after the stipulated period and therefore no orders could be passed for sanctioning the non-practicing allowance.

The above issue was considered by this Court after hearing the submissions made by the counsel on the last occasion and a direction was issued to the respondent State Government to obtain instructions as to why, if the petitioner''s application was received in the office of the Superintendent of Police within time, it was not forwarded within the stipulated period to the concerned authorities of the State of Bihar. On account of the lapses on the part of the office of the Superintendent of Police, the petitioner cannot suffer prejudice or detriment.

Considering the entire facts and circumstances, the concerned authorities of the respondent State of Jharkhand shall issue a fresh letter conveying the order of sanction of the Government for payment of pension and gratuity of the petitioner and also issue appropriate orders of sanction for payment of interest on the delayed payments and forward such letter to the office of the Accountant General, Jharkhand, Ranchi within two weeks from the date of this order.

As regards the petitioner''s claim for salary for the leave period, since the intimation of sanction of such salary has already been received from the concerned department of the State of Bihar in the office of the Health Department of the State of Jharkhand, the concerned authorities in the Health Department of the State of Jharkhand shall assess the total amount payable on this account and issue the requisite pay slips within two weeks to enable payment of the amount to the petitioner.

As regards the petitioner''s claim for payment of non-practicing allowance, considering the fact as per declarations contained in the counter affidavit of the State of Bihar, it appears that there is a lapse on the part of the office of the Superintendent of Police, Jamshedpur. If this be so, then the Secretary of the Department of Health shall exercise his powers for sanctioning the permissible non-practicing allowance on the basis of the certificate which the petitioner has submitted in the office of the Superintendent of Police, Jamshedpur. For ready reference, the petitioner shall file a copy of such application duly authenticated by him on affidavit, before the Secretary, Health Department, Government of Jharkhand.

Let this case be posted in the 1st week on reopening of Court after summer vacation.

Let a copy of this order be given to the counsel for the respondent Stale of Jharkhand.