IMPORTANT POINT
The court established that retirees are entitled to interest on delayed pension payments when the delay is not attributable to their actions, reinforcing the principle that pension is a right earned through service.

ORDER :

Arun Monga, J.

1. Petitioner inter alia, seeks directions to the respondents to grant him interest on the delayed payment of pension / retiral benefits, gratuity as well as other benefits due after superannuation, with effect from the date of his entitlement.

2. Briefly speaking, relevant facts, as pleaded in the petition

2.1 The petitioner was initially appointed as a Senior Teacher. Thereafter, the petitioner was promoted to the position of Headmaster on a "Patey Vetan" basis in 2007. Subsequently, via an order dated 12.06.2013, the petitioner was confirmed in the same post for the vacancy year 2009-2010.

2.2 Upon his retirement from the position of Headmaster, the petitioner submitted the requisite documents to the respective authorities for the purpose of pension and other service benefits. The respondents issued the Pension Payment Order, Gratuity amount, and leave encashment in favor of the petitioner via an order dated 08.01.2022.

2.3 While disbursing the pension and gratuity amounts, the respondents revised the payable amount. Additionally, the total sanctioned sum of gratuity was revised. The petitioner repeatedly submitted grievances through various representations, requesting the respondent authorities to sanction his legitimate pension and other retirement benefits, but no action was taken. Hence, the present writ petition.

3. Stand take in the reply is that the petitioner retired on 31.01.2021 from the position of Headmaster, Secondary School. The petitioner's pension case was sent to the Pension Department, Bikaner on 27.01.2021 by the Chief Block Education Officer, Gadra Road, Barmer. The Pension Department raised certain objections regarding the disposal of his case via a letter dated 25.02.2021.

3.1 Thereafter, necessary proceedings were conducted, and the petitioner's pension documents were resent to the Pension Department on 21.04.2021. The Pension Department again raised certain objections via letters dated 26.05.2021 and 26.07.2021. All the objections were addressed by the Education Department. There was no intentional or deliberate delay in the disposal of the pension case, and therefore, the instant writ petition deserves to be dismissed.

4. In the aforesaid backdrop, I have heard the rival contentions and gone through the case file.

5. The only issue remaining for adjudication before this Court is the interest payable to the petitioner for the delayed remittance of his pensionary dues and regular monthly pension. From the undisputed facts, it emerges that there was indeed a delay by the department due to the objections raised by the Pension Department. This resulted in back-and-forth correspondence. Ultimately, after satisfying the objections, the necessary remittance was made to the petitioner.

6. Specific provisions in the service rules are designed to address such situations, stipulating that the pensionary and retiral dues of a retiring employee should be processed well in advance of their retirement. This is to ensure that the retiree does not face any financial hardship post-retirement.

7. It is well-established law that a pension is neither a bounty nor a charity, nor a distribution of largesse by the State. It is a hard-earned benefit accrued to an employee after rendering decades of service, to be received post-superannuation.

8. In the context of starting the process of remittance of pension well in advance prior to retirement, reference may be had to Rule 80 and Rule 81 of Pension Rules, 1996 which is extracted hereinbelow: -

“80. Preparation of Pension papers.

Every Head of Office shall undertake the work of preparation of pension papers in Form 7 two years before the date on which a Government servant is due to retire on superannuation, or on the date on which he proceeds on leave preparatory to retirement whichever is earlier.

81. Stages for the completion of pension papers.

(1) The Head of Office shall divide the period of preparatory work of two years referred to in Rule 80 in the following three