Durgesh Kumar vs State Of Punjab And Others

Namit Kuumar, J

The instant writ petition has beeen filed by the petitioner under Articles 2266/227 of the Constitution of India seeking a writ in the nature of mandamus directing the respondents to release the payment of Leave Encashmentt, along with interest from the duue date as well as the interest on the delayed payment of other retirement benefits such as gratuity, pension, GPF etc. whhich became due on 01.02.2023, till its final realization.

Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner retired from service on attaining the age of superannuation on 31.01.2023,, however, the other retiral dues of the petitiioner have been released after a considerablee delay and leave encashment haas been released to the petitioner after filing of the present petition. Thereforre, he is entitled for the grant of interest on the delayed payments of retiral dues.

Reply by way of affidavit of Dr. Kulwinder Mann, Senior Medical Officer, Civil Hospital, Balachaur, District Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, on behalf of respondents No.1 to 4, has been filed, wherein it has been stated as under:-

“3. That the petitioner submitted the documents to process his pension case for release of retiral dues on 06.02.2023. The answering respondent department send the pension case of the petitioner to the office of Accountant General (A&E), Punjab, Chandigarh vide letter dated 07.02.2023. The Accountant General (A&E), Punjab, Chandigarh vide letter dated 21.04.2023 inform the answering respondent department that pension case of the petitioner has been finalized and e-Authority has been sent to District Treasury Officer, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar through IHRMS. The petitioner was also directed to remain physically present for disbursement of the amount in the District Treasury Office, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar. The answering respondent department send this letter to the District Treasury Officer, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar vide letter dated 02.05.2023. The payment of the G.P.F. was made to the petitioner 30.06.2023. The payment of the G.I.S. was made to the petitioner on 23.08.2023. The payment of the leave encashment was made to the petitioner on 02.05.2024, reason being, the sanction from the department of Health & Family Welfare was received at the belated stage."

As per the stand of the respondents, the petitioner submitted the documents on 06.02.2023 to process his pension case for release of his retiral dues and the pension case of the petitioner was sent to the office of Accountant General (A&E), Punjab, Chandigarh, vide letter dated 07.02.2023 and the office of the Accountant General, vide letter dated 21.04.2023, informed the department that pension case of the petitioner has been finalized and E-Authority has been sent to the District Treasury Officer, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar through IHRMS. The petitioner was also directed to remain physically present for disbursement of the amount in the District Treasury Office, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar and the office has sent this letter to the District Treasury Officer, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, on 02.05.2023 and the payment of GPF was made to the petitioner on 30.06.2023; payment of GIS on 23.08.2023; payment of leave encashment on 02.05.2024.

A Full Bench of this Court in A.S. Randhawa Versus State of Punjab and others, 1997(3) S.C.T. 468 has held that where there is an inordinate delay in releasing benefits and the delay is not justifiable, employee will be entitled for interest. The relevant paragraph of said judgment is as under:-

“Since a government employee on his retirement becomes immediately entitled to pension and other benefits in terms of the Pension Rules, a duty is simultaneously cast on the State to ensure the disbursement of pension and other benefits to the retiree in proper time. As to what is proper time will depend on the facts and circumstances of each case but normally it would not exceed two months from the date of retirement which time limit has been laid down by the Apex Court in M. Padmanabhan Nair's case (supra). If the State commits any default in the performance of its duty thereby denying to the retiree the benefit of the immediate use of his money, there is no gainsaying the fact that he gets a right to be compensated and, in our opinion, the only way to compensate him is to pay him interest for the period of delay on the amount as was due to him on the date of his retirement.”

Apart from this, in J.S. Cheema Versus State of Haryana, 2014(1) SCT 782, this Court has held that an employee will be entitled for the interest on an amount which has been retained by the respondents without any valid justification. The relevant paragraph of the said judgment is as under: -

“4. In the written statement, the plea taken is that the petitioner submitted his pension papers very late and that is why some delay was caused in the disbursal of his retiral benefits.

In my opinion, even if the assertion made in the written statement is presumed to be correct it would not disentitle the petitioner for claiming interest. The jurisprudential basis for grant of interest is the fact that one person's money has been used by somebody else. It is in that sense rent for the usage of money. If the user is compounded by any negligence on the part of the person with whom the money is lying it may result in higher rate because then it can also include the component of damages (in the form of interest). In the circumstances, even if there is no negligence on the part of the State it cannot be denied that money which rightly belonged to the petitioner was in the custody of the State and was being used by it.”

Since there is considerable delay in releasing the retiral benefits of the petitioner especially in releasing payment of leave encashment as the same was released to the petitioner after a period of 01 year and 04 months, therefore, he is entitled to the payment of interest.

Consequently, the present writ petition is allowed. The respondents are directed to grant interest @ 7% per annum to the petitioner on the retiral benefits w.e.f. 01.04.2023, i.e. after two months from the date of retirement, till the actual date of payment made to the petitioner, within a period of 02 months from the date of receipt of certified copy of this order.