Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation

2023 Supreme(Megh) 28

IN THE HIGH COURT OF MEGHALAYA AT SHILLONG
B. BHATTACHARJEE, J.
Shri. Tngen Singh Basaiawmoit – Appellant
Versus
State of Meghalaya & 5 Ors. – Respondent
WP(C) No. 96 of 2020
Decided on : 18-10-2023

Advocates:
Advocate Appeared:
For the Appellant : Mr. S. A. Sheikh, Adv.
For the Respondent: Mr. N. D. Chullai, AAG with Ms. Z. E. Nongkynrih, GA.

Pension is a property right that cannot be withheld without lawful authority; withholding based on proceedings initiated post-retirement is unlawful, and interest must be paid for delays in disbursement.

Headnote:(A) Article 226 of the Constitution of India - Meghalaya Civil Service (Pension) Rules, 1983 - Writ petition filed challenging the withholding of retirement benefits including gratuity and pension - Petitioner retired on 31-01-2014 with no proceedings pending against him - Respondents wrongfully withheld benefits based on FIRs filed post-retirement - Delay in release of retirement benefits recognized as unlawful. (Paras 11, 12, 20, 21)

(B) Pension as a right - Right to pension classified as property, cannot be denied without lawful cause under Article 300A - Employers mandated to pay gratuity within a specified timeframe, including interest for delays. (Paras 15, 17, 19)

Facts of the case:
The petitioner retired as an Accountant but did not receive retirement benefits despite submitting necessary documents; FIRs filed after retirement led to improper withholding of pension.

Findings of Court:
The withholding of pension was found to be unjustified due to absence of proceedings on the retirement date; entitled to receive benefits with interest for delays.

Issues: The main issues included the legality of withholding pension and gratuity due to post-retirement FIRs and interpretation of related rules.

Ratio Decidendi: The court determined that unless designated authority exercises specific right to withhold, pension cannot be automatically denied; pension is a right.

Result: The impugned letters quashed and petitioner entitled to interest for delayed benefits.

Table of Content
1. petitioner's challenge of withholding retirement benefits. (Para 1 , 2)
2. background of the petitioner's retirement and withheld benefits. (Para 3 , 4)
3. arguments regarding the legality of withholding benefits. (Para 5 , 6)
4. state's defense regarding petitioner’s alleged misconduct. (Para 7)
5. court's formulation of the legal principles regarding pension withholding. (Para 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14)
6. rights related to pension and relevant case precedents. (Para 15 , 17 , 18)
7. court's ruling on the illegality of withholding benefits. (Para 19 , 20)
8. final orders regarding payment of pension and interest. (Para 21 , 22 , 23 , 24)

JUDGMENT :

B. BHATTACHARJEE, J.

1. Heard Mr. S. A. Sheikh, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and also Mr. N. D. Chullai, learned AAG appearing for the State-respondents No.1 – 4 & 6. None appeared for the respondent No.5.

2. The present writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has been filed by the petitioner challenging the letters dated 28-11-2019 and 21-02-2020 by which the respondents proposed to release provisional pension to the petitioner and withhold the payment of gratuity.

3. The brief fact of the case is that the petitioner, having attained the age of superannuation, retired from service on 31-01-2014 as Accountant from the office of the Block Development Officer, Shella, Bholaganj C&RD Block, Sohra. However, after superannuation of the petitioner, no service benefits like Pension, Gratuity, Leave Salary and GPF has been released to the petitioner by the respondent. The petitioner being aggrieved by the non-released of the retirement benefits, filed WP(C) No.508 of 2018 before this Court and the said writ petition was disposed of by an order dated 23-08-2019 by directing the respondents to take up the representation dated 22-08-2017, which was filed by the petitioner and pending before the respondents, for consideration and to decide the same expeditiously. As the same was not done, the petitioner had to approach this Court by filing a contempt petition and during the pendency of the contempt petition the respondent authorities issued the impugned letters dated 28-09-2018 and 21-02-2020 by which the respondents decided to release provisional pension and withhold the payment of gratuity to the petitioner.

4. The petitioner in his writ petition averred that after his retirement from service on 31-01-2014, he submitted all the required documents/papers to the concerned authority for processing of his pension and other retirement benefits and the same were forwarded by the respondent No.3 vide letter dated 28-042014 to the office of the respondent No.5 for completion of the process. However, by another letter dated 06-05-2014, the respondent No.3 requested the respondent No.5 to stop the process of release of retirement benefits to the petitioner on the ground that the petitioner has overstayed his service. Consequently, the pension papers of the petitioner were returned back by the respondent No.5 with a request to resubmit the same after necessary correction of the date of retirement of the petitioner. The authorities issued for withdrawal of final GPF in respect of the petitioner was also returned by the respondent No.6 by letter dated 10-05-2017 on the ground that the petitioner was placed under suspension prior to the issuance of the authorities. As the petitioner was facing severe financial hardship, he approached the High Court by filing WP(C) No. 508 of 2018 for release of his retiral benefit. The writ petition was contested by the State-respondent by filing an affidavit in opposition wherein a stand was taken that the retirement benefits and pension of the petitioner was kept on hold until investigation is complete and the cases against the petitioner have been closed. It is only at that point of time, the petitioner came to know about the existence of two FIRs against him dated 06-06-2014 and 08-05-2014 (with supplementary FIR dated