KAMLESH KUMAR SONI vs STATE OF CHHATTISGARH - 2026 Supreme(Online)(Chh) 16713

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2026 Supreme(Online)(Chh) 16713

HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR

2026:CGHC:21466

AFR

WPS No. 7834 of 2022
WPS No. 1908 of 2021
WPS No. 3546 of 2022
WPS No. 8517 of 2022
WPS No. 4179 of 2022
WPS No. 1262 of 2021
WPS No. 3811 of 2021

WPS No. 7834 of 2022

Smt. Draupti Chauhan W/o Late Nanhu Ram Chauhan Aged About 51 Years R/o Village And Post Tildega, Tahsil - Pathalgaon, District - Jashpur, Chhattisgarh. ---Petitioner

Versus

1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through Its Secretary, School Education Department, Mahanadi Bhawan, Mantralaya, Atal Nagar, Nawa Raipur, Chhattisgarh.

2 - Office Of The Accountant General (Accounts And Entitlements) - Chhattisgarh Zero Point, Baloda Bazar Road, Raipur, District - Raipur, Chhattisgarh.

3 - District Education Officer Jashpur, District - Jashpur, Chhattisgarh.

4 - Block Education Officer Pathalgaon, District - Jashpur, Chhattisgarh. --- Respondent(s)

WPS No. 1908 of 2021

1 - Dr. Chaw Singh Patle S/o Shri Shyam Lal Patle, Aged About 69 Years Occupation - Retd. Govt. Servant R/o. Sonkar City Bilaspur Road Mungeli, Thana, Tahsil And District - Mungeli Chhattisgarh. ---petitioner

Versus

1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through The Secretary Health Department Mantralaya Mahanadi Bhawan Capital Complex Naya Raipur, District - Raipur Chhattisgarh., District : Raipur, Chhattisgarh

2 - Secretary Pension Resolution Committee, Chhattisgarh State General Administration Department, Mantralaya Mahanadi Bhawan Capital Complex, Atal Nagar, Naya Raipur, District - Raipur Chhattisgarh., District : Raipur, Chhattisgarh

3 - Director Health Services, Indrabati Bhawan, New Raipur, District - Raipur Chhattisgarh., District : Raipur, Chhattisgarh

4 - Chief Medical And Health Officer Bilaspur, District - Bilaspur Chhattisgarh., District : Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh

5 - Accountant General Raipur Nidhi - 07, Office Of Account And Pension, Zero Point Balodabajar Road Raipur, District - Raipur Chhattisgarh., District : Raipur, Chhattisgarh --- Respondent(s)

WPS No. 3546 of 2022

1 - Yashwant Kumar Shrivastava S/o Late Dwarika Prasad Shrivastava Aged About 66 Years Retired Nma, Community Health Center Loing, District Raigarh (C.G.), R/o House No. 22/450, Housing Board Colony, Boirdadar Road, Raigarh, District- Raigarh (C.G.) ---petitioner

Versus

1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through Secretary, Health And Family Welfare Department, Mantralaya, Mahanadi Bhawan, Atal Nagar, Nawa Raipur, District- Raipur (C.G.)

2 - Chief Medical And Health Officer Raigarh, District- Raigarh (C.G.)

3 - Block Medical Officer Community Health Center Loing, District- Raigarh (C.G.)

4 - Accountant General (Pension) Raipur, District- Raipur (C.G.)

5 - Joint Director Treasury Account And Pension, Bilaspur, District- Bilaspur (C.G.) --- Respondent(s)

WPS No. 8517 of 2022

1 - Ramsingh Kanwar S/o Baiga Ram Kanwar Aged About 73 Years Retd. Headmaster Primary School Pahadgaon, Korba, District Korba Chhattisgarh ---petitioner

Versus

1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through The Director Education Department, Chhattisgarh Indrawati Bhawan, Atal Nagar, Naya Raipur, District Raipur Chhattisgarh

2 - Senior Account Officer/ M. B. Cell Office Of Head Accountant General (Account And Title) Chhattisgarh, Zero Point Baloda Bazar Road, Raipur, District Raipur Chhattisgarh

3 - Block Education Officer Kartala, District Korba Chhattisgarh --- Respondent(s)

WPS No. 4179 of 2022

1 - Kamlesh Kumar Soni S/o Late Shri Darbari Lal Soni Aged About 78 Years R/o Old Sarkanda, Near Shivghat, Koni Road, Bilaspur, Distt. Bilaspur, Civil And Revenue Distt. Bilaspur (C.G.) ---petitioner

Versus

1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through - Secretary, School Education Department, Mahanadi Bhavan, Mantralaya, Atal Nagar, New Raipur (C.G.)

2 - The Director School Education Department, Indrawati Bhavan, Mantralay, Atal Nagar, New Raipur (C.G.)

3 - The Accountant General Zero Point, Baloda Bazar Road, Raipur, District : Raipur, Chhattisgarh

4 - The District Treasury Officer Bilaspur Distt. - Bilaspur, District : Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh

5 - The Principal Govt. Higher Secondary School, Chapora, (Via Ratanpur), District : Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh --- Respondent(s)

WPS No. 1262 of 2021

1 - Smt. Naseeba Khanam Wd/o Late Gulam Mustafa Aged About 52 Years R/o Navagarh Near Power House Ambikapur, Police Station Ambikapur, District Surjuga Chhattisgarh, District : Surguja (Ambikapur), Chhattisgarh ---petitioner

Versus

1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through The Secretary, Education Department, Mahanadi Bhawan, Mantralaya, Raipur Chhattisgarh, District : Raipur, Chhattisgarh

2 - Accountant General Chhattisgarh Raipur Office Of The Accountant General Zero Point, Viahansabha Road Raipur Chhattisgarh, District : Raipur, Chhattisgarh

3 - The District Education Officer Surguja Ambikapur, District Surguja Chhattisgarh, District : Surguja (Ambikapur), Chhattisgarh

4 - The Block Education Officer Udaypur, District Surguja Chhattisgarh, District : Surguja (Ambikapur), Chhattisgarh

5 - The Divisional Joint Direct Treasury, Account And Pension Ambikapur Surguja Division District Surguja Chhattisgarh, District : Surguja (Ambikapur), Chhattisgarh --- Respondent(s)

WPS No. 3811 of 2021

1 - Devkishan Tiwari S/o Late B. P. Tiwari Aged About 75 Years (Retired Upper Divisional Teacher) R/o Munhsi Ismile Ward, Infront Of Godridham, Bhatapara, District - Balodabazaar - Bhatapara, Chhattisgarh. ---petitioner

Versus

1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through - Secretary, School Education Department, Mantralaya, Mahanadi Bhawan, Atal Nagar, Naya Raipur, District Raipur, Chhattisgarh.

2 - Accountant General, Chhattisgarh Through Senior Accounts Officer Nidhi -2, Accountant General Officer (Accounts And Entitlement), Zero Point, Baloda Bazar Road, Post Office Vidhan Sabha, Raipur, Chhattisgarh.

3 - Principal Government Shivlal Mehta Higher Secondary School Bhatapara, District Balodabazaar-Bhatapara, Chhattisgarh. --- Respondent(s)

For respective petitioners : Mr. Manoj K. Sinha, Advocate, Mr. Varun Sharma, Advocate, Mr. Love Kumar Ramteke, Advocate, Mr. Malay Shrivastava, Advocate, Mr. Sumit Shrivastava, Advocate, Ms. Soniya Kuldeep, Advocate, Mr. Shubham Tripathi, Advocate

For respective Respondent(s) : Mr. Rajkumar Gupta, Advocate, Mr. Keshav Prasad Gupta, Government Advocate

Hon’ble Shri Justice Rakesh Mohan Pandey

07/05/2026

Order on Board

1. In these petitions, the petitioners are retired Government servants and legal representatives of deceased Government servants. Their particulars are provided in the chart below:-

Sl No.	Case Number	Date of superannuation	Date of recovery order
1.	WPS No. 1908 of 2021	31.10.2017	15.02.2021
2.	WPS No.3811 of 2021	31.12.2008	16.04.2018 & 29.06.2020
3.	WPS No.3546 of 2022	30.06.2018	22.12.2020 & 15.07.2021
4.	WPS No.4179 of 2022	31.10.2004	26.04.2022
5.	WPS No.7834 of 2022	The husband of the petitioner, who was posted as Assistant Teacher, died on 08.04.2021. Thereafter, on 19.08.2021, the petitioner submitted an application for the final payment of the GPF amount.	08.10.2021 & 07.10.2022
6.	WPS No. 8517 of 2022	30.06.2011	22.09.2022
7.	WPS No.1262 of 2021	Husband of the petitioner died on 19.01.2020 prior to his retirement.	31.07.2020

2. Learned counsel appearing for the respective petitioners would submit that the orders of recovery were issued by the respondent authorities after the petitioners attained the age of superannuation, inter alia, on the ground that during their service tenure, they had withdrawn part of the GPF amount. They would further submit that the orders of recovery have been passed against the petitioners in contravention of the provisions of Rules 65 and 66 of the Chhattisgarh Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1976 (for short, Pension Rules, 1976). They would also submit that during their service tenure, the petitioners were never served with any notice of recovery and, after retirement, the impugned orders have been passed without affording them an opportunity of hearing. They would place reliance on the order passed by the co-ordinate Bench in the matter of Dharmu Ram Mandavi v. State of Chhattisgarh and ors. (WPS No. 2617 of 2013, dated 02.09.2024).

3. On the other hand, learned counsel appearing for the respondents would oppose the submissions made on behalf of the petitioners and submit that the petitioners were aware of the fact that they had withdrawn amounts in excess of their entitlement from their GPF accounts, but they never communicated this fact to the department. They would argue that after retirement, office of the Accountant General verified the GPF accounts of the petitioners, wherein it was found that they have withdrawn amounts in excess of their entitlement from their GPF accounts and, therefore, orders of recovery were issued.

They would contend that according to Rule 14(7) of the Chhattisgarh General Provident Fund Rules, 1955, in case a subscriber is found to have drawn from the fund an amount in excess of the amount standing to his credit on the date of withdrawal, the overdrawn amount shall be repaid by him along with interest thereon in one lump sum, and in default thereof, the amount shall carry interest at the rate of 2.5% per annum. They would further argue that the impugned orders have been passed in accordance with Rule 14(7) of the Chhattisgarh General Provident Fund Rules, 1955 (for short, CG GPF Rules, 1955); thus, these petitions deserve to be dismissed.

4. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the documents placed on file.

5. Admittedly, Government servants retired from service after attaining the age of superannuation, and at the time of their retirement no claim was raised by the respective departments in terms of sub-rule (3)(a) of Rule 66 of the Pension Rules, 1976, which provides that efforts should be made to assess and adjust the recoverable Government dues within a period not exceeding six months from the date of retirement of the Government servant. If no claim on Government account is made against the Government servant within such period, it shall be presumed that no Government claim, excluding claims relating to house rent and water charges, is outstanding against him.

6. The Sub Rule 7 of Rule 14 of the CG General Provident Fund Rules, 1955 reads as under:-

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