The main legal point established in the judgment is that economic distress and the length of service can warrant 'special consideration' for compassionate allowance under Rule 41 of the CCS Pension Rules, 1972, despite dismissal from service for misconduct and indiscipline.

JUDGMENT :

Suresh Kumar Kait, J.

1. The present petition has been filed by the petitioner seeking quashing of order dated 27.12.2018 vide which the competent authority rejected petitioner's mercy petition on the ground that her husband was “dismissed from service” on proven misconduct and thus she was not entitled to any pensionary benefits/relief; compensatory allowance from the date of dismissal of her deceased husband i.e. 24.11.1994 or in the alternative, from the date of her application dated 22.08.2008 or 05.10.2008.

2. According to the petitioner, her husband- late Naik Krishanpal Singh, was enrolled in the CISF as a Guard and was posted at Rihandnagar, Super Thermal Power Project in Uttar Pradesh. During the course of service, certain allegations were leveled against him and he was served with a charge sheet dated 15.01.1994. After conclusion of enquiry, he was dismissed from service on 24.11.1994. Thereafter, he filed various appeals against the charge sheet, suspension order and the dismissal order issued against him, however, each of these was rejected by the respondents. Lastly, he approached this Court by filing W.P. (C) 4133/1996, which, after being heard for some time, was dismissed in default.

3. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of petitioner submitted that after dismissal from service, late Naik Krishanpal Singh was working as a labour, however, during pendency of the aforesaid writ petition, he passed away. Having no source of income and responsibility to shoulder small children, petitioner herself worked as a labour for few days but since she was unable to meet daily needs, she filed a representation dated 22.08.2008 to the competent authority for grant of pensionary benefits. The said representation was dismissed vide order dated 02.09.2008 on technical grounds that the application was incomplete and lacked material details.

4. Learned counsel for petitioner urged that petitioner was working with CISF till the date of his dismissal, however, benefits of provident fund, gratuity, leave encashment and any other monetary benefit was not granted to him. It was submitted that for last more than 15 years, the petitioner has been following case of her deceased husband and has been working as daily wager and earning a meager amount of Rs.36,000/- annually and is now 60 years old and is unable to do labour work and maintain herself.

5. Learned counsel next submitted that petitioner had filed a mercy petition before the respondent on 05.10.2018, however, the same stood rejected vide order dated 27.12.2018 on the ground that her husband was dismissed from service and was not liable to receive any pensionary benefits. Learned counsel empathetically submitted that as per CCS Pension Rules, the competent authority may sanction compassionate allowance in special cases. Attention of this Court was drawn to Rule 41 of the CCS of the Pension Rules, 1972 in this regard and also to letter dated 30.03.2015 (Annexure P-5) written by Directorate General, Central Industrial Security Force, Ministry of Home Affairs to submit that compensatory allowance is payable in deserving cases. Reliance is also placed upon decision of Hon'ble Supreme Court in Mahinder Dutt Sharma Vs. Union of India, (2014) 11 SCC 684 to submit that when an employee is dismissed for reasons other than those involving moral turpitude dishonesty towards employer and loss to a third party, then such a punished employee's case may be considered for grant of compensatory allowance under Rule 41 of the CCS Pension Rules by the competent authority. Hence, it is prayed that respondents be directed to pay compensatory allowance to petitioner to enable her to meet her livelihood.

6. To the contrary, learned counsel appearing on behalf of respondents submitted that petitioner's husband was enrolled as Security Guard in the year 1972 and consequent upon being charge sheeted for misconduct and indiscipline in the year 1994, he was dismissed from service on 24.11.1994. The statu