Rajeshwar vs State of H. P. and Another

Kurian Joseph, C.J.—The Petitioner is aggrieved since an amount of Rs. 49,000/- has been withheld from his gratuity. According to the Respondents, the same has been withheld on account of audit objection. The objection pertains to the alleged wrong fixation of pay. If it is an audit objection, necessarily the Petitioner has to be given an opportunity to approach the Government to see whether the objection can be got over by the Government, since it is ultimately for the Government to take decision in the matter. Therefore, without expressing any opinion as to the merits of the contentions, and leaving open all the contentions, the writ petition is disposed of as follows:

The Petitioner may file an appropriate representation before the Government against the audit objection within a period of one month from today. In the event of the Petitioner filing an appropriate representation, as above, the matter will be examined by the Secretary of the Government in the Urban Development Department after affording an opportunity of hearing to the Petitioner and appropriate orders in accordance with law and justice shall be passed thereon within two months.

It is submitted by the learned Counsel for the Petitioner that the Petitioner has not been granted pension so far. The Petitioner has retired from service on 31.5.2005. There is absolutely no justification in not finalizing the pension. Now, it is around five years. Therefore, there will be a direction to the Respondents to fix the pension due to the Petitioner within a period of one month from the date of receipt of a copy of this judgment. The arrears of pension shall be disbursed to the Petitioner within another one month. The said arrears will carry interest at the rate of 7% from 1.6.2006, after one year of retirement.