The right to receive pension is a property under Article 31(1) of the Constitution, and pension and gratuity are earned benefits, not mere bounties. The Court emphasized the importance of socio-economic justice and upheld the Petitioner's entitlement to pension for the post of Sanitary Inspector held by him for over 20 years.

JUDGMENT :

1. The Petitioner, through the medium of the present Petition, seeks quashment of communication No. C/60548/SPARSH/GS/SD-7 (Adm Civ) dated 15th of June, 2022 issued by the Respondent No.3, communication No. C/60548/SPARSH/GS/SD-7 (Adm Civ) dated 30th of September, 2022 issued by Respondent No.2 and communication No. 18010/5/Addl/GS/SD/Mohd Shafi Wani dated 7th of October, 2022 issued by the Respondent No.4, directing the conduct of review DPC and recovery to be made from the pension/ gratuity of the Petitioner, with further direction to the Respondents to accept the documents and accord sanction to the recommendations dated 20th of July, 2022, 12th of August, 2022 and 12th of September, 2022 made by Respondent No.6 and not to conduct review DPC, so as to demote the Petitioner with further direction to the Respondents to release the pensionary benefits in favour of the Petitioner, including gratuity as per the last pay drawn by the Petitioner as Sanitary Inspector and not to make any recovery from the pensionary benefits, including gratuity of the Petitioner.

2. The Petitioner has pleaded that he came to be recruited in the establishment of Respondent No.8 against the post of Sanitary Mate on temporary basis in the year 1980 and was regularized as such in the year 1992; that he rendered his services to the Respondents with honesty, dedication and to the satisfaction of his superiors and had received various certificates of appreciation for his unblemished, honest and dedicated service from various higher officials of the Respondent-Elite Force; that he came to be promoted to the post of General Supervisor vide Order dated 8th of May, 1998; that he was considered for grant of promotion to the post of Sanitary Inspector as this additional post came to be created vide Order No. 18010/5/Addl/GS(SD)(I) dated 7th of July, 2001 by the Respondent No.4 and that the newly created posts were continued latest by Order dated 10th of November, 2020, wherein sanction was accorded for the continued employment of 106 Conservancy and Administrative Staff, including Sanitary Inspector, against which the Petitioner was promoted; that the Respondents promoted the Petitioner to the post of Sanitary Inspector as he was the only eligible person as cleared by the DPC vide Order dated 12th of September, 2001 and was approved by the competent authority in terms of Order dated 27th of September, 2001, as such, the Petitioner came to be promoted to the post of Sanitary Inspector w.e.f. 13th of September, 2001 in the pay scale of Rs.5000-150-8000; that the Petitioner continued on the post of Sanitary Inspector having been duly promoted till 31st of March, 2022, when he attained the age of superannuation.

3. It has been further pleaded that post superannuation, the Petitioner submitted his documents for the grant and release of pensionary benefits in his favour, and that on account of the digitization of various services since August, 2021, the documents for grant of pensionary benefits in favour of the retired personnel were to be uploaded as the Respondents had established and maintained an online digital database portal, commonly known as SPARASH, however, while assessing the online digital database, the Respondent No.8 was not able to upload the necessary details and documents of the Petitioner for the release and grant of his pensionary benefits on the said portal. Consequently, the Respondent No.8 approached the higher officers, i.e., other Respondents, underlining the difficulties faced in uploading the necessary details of the Petitioner on the online portal. It was further submitted that after superannuation on 31st of March, 2022, the date sheet and other relevant documents were approved by the concerned Controller of Defense Accounts, Srinagar, but while uploading the details on the project SPARASH, the database was not accessible as the post of Sanitary Inspector was not available in the category of the “POST LAST HELD” and cadre on th