Krishna Prasad Saw @ Krishn Prasad Saw vs State of Bihar And Others

Harish Kumar, J

Heard Mr. Shailendra Kumar Verma, learned Advocate for the petitioner and Mr. Vishwambhar Prasad, learned Advocate for the State.

The petitioner superannuated from the post of Clerk/Nazir on 31.12.2020; being aggrieved by non-payment of his GPF amount has preferred the present writ petition.

Learned Advocate for the petitioner contended that despite the authority letter issued by the District Provident Fund Officer way back on 01.01.2021 authorizing for withdrawal of the part of the GPF amount of Rs.4,53,198/-, the same has not been paid and as such left with no option the petitioner approached this Court; finally the afore-noted amount under the head of GPF came to be paid vide Bill No. 26/2021-2022. Learned Advocate further contended that the petitioner superannuated on 31.12.2020 and the GPF amount has been paid in the year 2022. From the materials available on record it appears that the authority letter was issued on 01.01.2021 for Rs.4,53,198/- but the actual payment has been made in the year 2022, but with the same amount. Thus, there is no hesitation in making submission that no interest over the amount of Rs.4,53,198/- has been accorded.

At this juncture, learned Advocate for the State submitted that the GPF amount under the authority letter No. 642 was issued on 07.07.2021 for an amount of Rs.6,44,104/-and the same had already been paid to the petitioner after his superannuation. So far as the remaining amount to the tune of Rs.4,53,198/- is concerned, the same was issued on 01.01.2021, however the same was wrongly sent to the Block Development Officer, Ramgarh Chowk where the petitioner was not posted at the time of retirement. The aforesaid information has been given to the District Provident Fund Officer, Munger, though after expiry of the validity period of the authority letter. In such circumstances, a request was made to the District Provident Fund Officer, Munger to revise the said authority letter and send the same to the District Supply Officer, Lakhisarai. Pursuant to which the District Provident Fund Officer, Munger vide letter No. 936 dated 05.08.2021 issued another revised authority letter for Rs.4,53,198/- to pay to the petitioner. After completion of all the paraphernalia, the same was finally directed to be paid to the petitioner vide letter No. 27 dated 29.01.2022. The learned Advocate for the State has also brought on record the acknowledgment made by the petitioner dated 02.08.2022 that the amount has been received by him. It is also contended that the amount of Rs.4,53,198/- also contains the statutory interest.

Having regard to the submissions advanced on behalf of the respective parties, the writ petition stands disposed of. However, the petitioner is at liberty to file representation, if the statutory interest over the original GPF amount till the actual date of payment has not been calculated. If such a representation is filed within a period of two weeks from today, the same shall be considered by the District Provident Fund Officer, Munger within a further period of six weeks. In case the petitioner is found entitled for the interest as noted hereinabove, the same shall be accorded to him within the stipulated period.