wp1969.13.odt
1
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
NAGPUR BENCH AT NAGPUR
WRIT PETITION NO.1969/2013
PETITIONER: Vijay Rajabhau Chincholkar,
Aged about 63 years, Occ. Retired,
R/o. 17, Vidya Vihar, Pratap Nagar,
Nagpur - 440022.
...VERSUS...
RESPONDENTS : 1. State of Maharashtra, Through its
Secretary, Water Resources Department,
Mantralaya Mumbai - 32.
2. Chief Engineer,
Water Resources Department,
Sinchan Seva Bhavan, Camp Amravati.
3. Accountant General (A & E) - II,
Maharashtra Civil Lines, Nagpur.
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Shri S.A. Marathe, Advocate for petitioner
Shri D.P. Thakare, Addl. G.P. for respondents
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CORAM : SMT. VASANTI A NAIK, AND
V.M. DESHPANDE, JJ.
DATE : 23.03.2017 ORAL JUDGMENT (PER : SMT. VASANTI A. NAIK, J.) By this writ petition, the petitioner challenges the order of the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal, dated 4.1.2013 dismissing the original application filed by the petitioner.
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wp1969.13.odt 2 The petitioner's date of birth is 25.8.1950. A departmental enquiry was initiated against the petitioner while he was working with the Water Resources Department on 28.2.2005. During the pendency of the proceedings, the petitioner was compulsorily retired on 28.4.2005 when he was about 54 years of age. The petitioner was exonerated of the charges levelled against him in the departmental enquiry on 8.1.2010. Thereafter, on 17.2.2010, the petitioner submitted an application for commutation of pension in Form -A appended to the Maharashtra Civil Services (Commutation of Pension) Rules, 1984. The respondent - Accountant General issued the orders sanctioning the commutation of pension amounting to Rs.4,17,438/- in favour of the petitioner. The petitioner was dissatisfied with the calculation of the commutation of the amount of pension and therefore he filed an original application before the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal for a direction that the pension should be commuted from the date on which he was compulsorily retired from service and not from the date on which he had tendered the application in Form - A for commutation of pension. The original application filed by the petitioner was dismissed by the Tribunal.
Shri Marathe, the learned Counsel for the petitioner submitted that since the petitioner was exonerated in the departmental enquiry on 8.1.2010, after the petitioner applied for commutation of his ::: Uploaded on - 27/03/2017 ::: Downloaded on - 28/03/2017 00:46:14 ::: wp1969.13.odt 3 pension in Form - A, the commuted value of pension should have been granted with effect from the date of his compulsory retirement and not from the date on which he applied for commutation of pension. It is submitted that the Tribunal did not consider the matter in the right perspective while dismissing the original application filed by the petitioner. It is further stated that the Resolution of the Finance Department of the Government of Maharashtra, dated 30.5.1988 would support the case of the petitioner.
On the other hand, it is submitted on behalf of the respondents by the learned Additional Government Pleader that the Tribunal has rightly dismissed the original application filed by the petitioner by referring to Rules 4, 6, 8, 12 and 13 of the Maharashtra Civil Services (Commutation of Pension) Rules. It is submitted that a Government servant against whom a departmental or judicial proceedings is pending would not be entitled to commute a fraction of his provisional pension or his pension, as the case may be during the pendency of the proceedings. It is submitted that the proceedings initiated against the petitioner culminated on 8.1.2010 and since the petitioner applied in Form -A on 17.2.2010 for commutation of his pension, the pension of the petitioner was rightly commuted in accordance with the Rules and an amount of Rs.4,17,438/- is released in favour of the petitioner towards ::: Uploaded on - 27/03/2017 ::: Downloaded on - 28/03/2017 00:46:14 ::: wp1969.13.odt 4 the commuted value of pension. It is submitted that on a combined reading of Rules 4 and 13 of the Rules, it is clear that the claim of the petitioner to commute the pension by considering his date of retirement as 28.4.2005, is liable to be rejected.
On a reading of the relevant Rules and the order of the Tribunal, it appears that there is no scope for interference with the impugned order, in exercise of the writ jurisdiction. It is apparent from a reading of Rule 4 of the Rules that a Government Servant against whom a departmental or judicial proceedings is pending is not entitled to commute a fraction of his provisional pension or his pension, as the case may be during the pendency of such proceedings. The petitioner was compulsorily retired from service on 28.4.2005, however, the departmental enquiry continued against him till he was exonerated on 8.1.2010. The petitioner then applied for commuting the pension in Form-A and the respondents rightly granted the commuted value of the pension to the petitioner, by considering the date on which he had applied. The learned Counsel for the petitioner has not pointed out any Rule in the Rules of 1984 that provides for the commutation of the pension by considering the date on which the petitioner is compulsorily retired from service despite repeated query in that regard. The reliance placed by the learned Counsel for the petitioner on the Resolution, dated ::: Uploaded on - 27/03/2017 ::: Downloaded on - 28/03/2017 00:46:14 ::: wp1969.13.odt 5 30.5.1988 is not well founded as the said Government Resolution is not relevant for deciding the question involved in this writ petition. Since, no fault could be found with the order of the Tribunal, the writ petition is liable to be dismissed.
Hence, we dismiss the writ petition with no order as to costs. Rule stands discharged.
JUDGE JUDGE
Wadkar
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