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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI
SANJAY KUMAR DWIVEDI, J.
Khalid Hussain, son of late Manjoor Ahmad - Petitioner
Versus
The State of Jharkhand - Respondents
W.P.(S) No. 3309 of 2017
Decided On : 18-01-2021
Constitution Of India,1950 - Payment of aforesaid recommended amount - Quash - Superintendent of Education - Petitioners have been appointed in Telco Urdu Middle School Jamshedpur which is a Government aided minority school on vacant sanctioned post approval of their services by State Government is there and that is why petitioners were being paid salary from State Government from initial date of appointment- In certain dispute cropped up in managing committee of said school for removal of Headmaster of school and one fact of managing committee of school had put a lock in said building and building was unauthorized closed with effect then Regional Education Officer Jamshdpur intervened in matter and looking into interest of teachers he vide letter directed teachers and Headmaster of school to mark their attendance in his office for said period –Held, Government at its own decided to pay salary for said period and equity demands that such order at this stage is very harsh which cannot sustain in eye of law recovery is also said to be after a long period Court in its judgment that issue of recovery revolved on action being iniquitous- Dealing with subject of action being iniquitous it was sought to be concluded that when excess unauthorized payment is detected within a short period of time it would be open for employer to recover same- Conversely if payment had been made for a long duration of time it would be iniquitous to make any recovery apparent that a government employee is primarily dependent on his wages and if a deduction is to be made from his/her wages it should not be a deduction which would make it difficult for employee to provide for needs of his family- Besides food clothing and shelter an employee has to cater not only to education needs of those dependent upon him but also their medical requirements and a variety of sundry expenses- Based on above consideration court are of view that if mistake of making a wrongful payment is detected within five years it would be open to employer to recover same- However if payment is made for a period in excess of five years even though it would be open to employer to correct mistake would be extremely iniquitous and arbitrary to seek a refund of payments mistakenly made to employee order not applicable in and circumstances of present case- That case was dismissed by this Court on ground of delay and laches whereas in present case impugnd order has been passed and thereafter petitioners have moved before this Court - Petition disposed
JUDGMENT :
Heard Mr. A.K. Das, the learned counsel for the petitioners and Mr. Munna Lal Yadav, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent State.
2. This writ petition has been heard through Video Conferencing in view of the guidelines of the High Court taking into account the situation arising due to COVID-19 pandemic. None of the parties have complained about any technical snag of audio-video and with their consent this matter has been heard.
3. The petitioners have preferred this writ petition for quashing the order dated 05.05.2016 whereby the District Superintendent of Education, Jamshedpur was directed to recover the arrears of salary paid to the petitioners for the period 07.03.1994 to 13.09.1995.
4. The petitioners have been appointed in Telco Urdu Middle School, Jamshedpur which is a Government aided minority school, on the vacant sanctioned post. The approval of their services by the State Government is there and that is why the petitioners were being paid the salary from the State Government from the initial date of appointment. In the year 1994 certain dispute cropped up in the managing committee of the said school for the removal of the Headmaser of the school and one fact of the managing committee of the school had put a lock in the said building and the building was unauthorizedly closed with effect from 07.03.1994. The then Regional Education Officer, Jamshdpur intervened in the matter and looking into the interest of the teachers, he vide letter dated 09.03.1994 directed the teachers and Headmaster of the school to mark their attendance in his office for the said period. The said letter dated 09.03.1994 is annexed as Annexure-1 to the writ petition. In view of the said direction, the petitioners marked their attendance in the office of the Regional Education Officer, Jamshedpur. The school reopened after 13.09.1995. The Regional Education Officer, Jamshedpur vide letter dated 20.07.1996 had recommended for payment of salary of the teachers of the said school for the period 07.03.1994 to 13.09.1995, as contained in Annexure-2. The petitioners repeatedly requested for payment of the aforesaid recommended amount. The petitioners were granted senior selection grade on completion of 12 years of service by order dated 02.03.2005, 12.03.2005 and 05.10.2005, respectively. The order by the Regional Education Officer, Jamshedpur was issued for cancellation of grant of senior selection grade to the employees of Telco Urdu Middle School. The District Superintendent of Education, East Singhbhum, Jamshedpur directed the said officer to make an enquiry in this regard. The Regional Education Officer, Jamshedpur vide letter dated 18.10.2006 submitted report the that employees of the said school including the present petitioners are entitled to receive their salary for the period 07.03.1994 to 13.09.1995 and thereafter they will also be entitled to the benefits of senior pay scale. The attendance of the petitioners were already verfied. Some of the teachers in the meantime had moved before this Court in C.W.J.C. No.3744 of 2000 seeking release of the arrears of salary for the period March, 1994 to 13.09.1995. The said writ petition was dismissed by order dated 16.12.2002. The Headmaster of the school had separately moved before this Court in C.W.J.C. No.161 of 2000 which was disposed of in favour of the petitioner of that case. Thereafter, the District Superintendent of Education, Jamshedpur directed for release of the salary for the said period vide letter no.1186 dated 29.05.2007, contained in Annexure-7. The petitioners were paid the arrears of salary for the period 07.03.1994 to 13.09.1995, however, by letter dated 05.05.2016, the District Superintendent of Education, East Singhbhum, Jamshdpur directed to recover the amount of Rs.19,68,951/- which was disbursed to the teachers of Telco Urdu Middle School, Jamshedpur on the ground of dismissal of C.W.J.C. No.3744 of 2000. Aggrieved with this, the petitioners have
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