JUDGMENT :

I.P. Mukerji, J.

1. On 1st November, 1977, the appellant writ petitioner was appointed as Agriculture Officer in the respondent bank. He joined service and was posted at its Purulia branch. On 6th March, 1996 for alleged acts of misconduct he was placed under suspension. This suspension order was revoked on 28th January, 1997. In this intervening period disciplinary proceedings were started against him on the said charge of misconduct and continued till 2nd June, 1999 when the disciplinary authority imposed the punishment of reduction of his pay scale by three stages with cumulative effect.

2. In 2013 the appellant superannuated. On his retirement, out of the retirement financial benefits that he was entitled to, i.e. regular monthly pension, gratuity, own contribution to provident fund, leave encashment, additional retirement benefits, the appellant received all, except gratuity and additional retirement benefits. These were withheld by the bank. On 3rd November, 2013 they informed him that those amounts could not be released to him as a criminal case which was started by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), was pending against him.

3. This withholding of gratuity and