1

LD-VC-CW-665 of 2020.odt

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY,

NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR

LD-VC-CW-665 OF 2020

Shri Naini Gopal S/o Dhirendra Mohan Roy,

Aged About 85 Years,

Occupation – Pensioner,

R/o F-37/B, Central Railway Colony,

Ajni, Nagpur-440 003.

… Petitioner

Versus

1.

The Union of India,

Ministry of Defence,

Through its Secretary,

New Delhi.

2.

The Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Pension),

Office of Principal Controller of Defence Accounts,

Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh-211 014.

3.

The General Manager,

State Bank of India,

Centralized Pension Processing Centre,

5^th Floor, Premises No.T-651 and T-751,

I.T.C. Belapur, CBD Belapur Railway Station Complex,

Navi Mumbai-400 0614.

4.

The General Manager,

Ordnance Factory, Bhandara.

… Respondents

Shri S.S. Sharma, Advocate for Petitioner.

Smt. Sushma, Advocate for Respondent Nos.1, 2 and 4.

Shri M. Anilkumar, Advocate for Respondent No.3.

CORAM : R.K. DESHPANDE & N.B. SURYAWANSHI, JJ.

Date of Reserving the Judgment : 13

^th August, 2020

Date of Pronouncing the Judgment : 20

^th August, 2020

2

LD-VC-CW-665 of 2020.odt

JUDGMENT (Per R.K. DESHPANDE, J.) :

1.

Notice for final disposal of the matter was issued by this Court

on 30-7-20208 and the parties were heard finally by consent. Hence,

Rule. The petition is being disposed of finally.

2.

The petitioner Naini Gopal S/o Dhirendra Mohan Roy is retired as

an Assistant Foreman from the Ordnance Factory at Bhandara with

effect from 1-10-1994. The last drawn basic salary of the petitioner

was Rs.2,675/- and the basic pension was fixed at Rs.1,334/- as on

1-10-1994. Consequent upon increase in the pension and the dearness

allowance as per the recommendations of the 5^th, 6^th

and

7^th Pay Commissions, the basic pension of Rs.25,634/- was fixed,

for which the petitioner was entitled to and accordingly he was paid.

3.

In the month of August 2019, the basic pension amount of the

petitioner was reduced from Rs.25,634/- to Rs.25,250/- with effect from

1-1-2016 and accordingly, the respondent No.3- the Centralized

Pension Processing Centre of the State Bank of India, directed recovery

of an amount of Rs.3,69,035/- from the pension payable to the

petitioner in the installments of Rs.11,400/-, i.e. 1/3^rd of the monthly

pension with effect from 1-8-2019. The deduction of pension was

without the consent or knowledge of the petitioner and, therefore, the

3

LD-VC-CW-665 of 2020.odt

petitioner filed an application under the Right to Information Act, 2005

on 1-9-2019 to know the reason for deduction and details as to the

revision of pension during the period 2015-16 and 2016-17.

In response to this application, the petitioner received the reply on

20-9-2019 from the respondent No.3 informing that there was excess

payment of pension of Rs.3,69,035/- to the petitioner, which was

discovered after making the revised calculations.

4.

The petitioner has, therefore, approached this Court challenging

such action and seeking further direction to the respondents to restore

the position in respect of payment of pension, prevailing prior to the

deduction which commenced from 1-8-2019. Reliance is placed upon

the communication dated 4-12-2019 at Annexure-Q to the petition,

issued by the Accounts Officer of the employer stating that the pension

at the rate of Rs.26,000/- was correctly notified vide 7^th CPC PPO

No.401199400151 (0101).

5.

Initially, we heard the matter on 30-7-2020, when the following

order was passed :

“

Hearing was conducted through Video Conferencing and

the learned Counsel for the parties agreed that the audio and

visual quality was proper.

4

LD-VC-CW-665 of 2020.odt

2)

Issue notice for final disposal of the matter, returnable

on 10/8/2020.

3)

Smt. Sushma, learned Counsel waives service of notice

for respondent nos.1, 2 and 4.

4)

We have seen the impugned order dated 14/11/2019

issued by the State Bank of India. We are anxi