THE HON'BLE MRS JUSTICE SUREPALLI NANDA
W.P. NO. 1826 OF 2019
ORDER:
Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned Government Pleader for Services-I.
2. This writ petition is filed to issue a writ, order or direction more particularly one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus by declaring the action of the 5th respondent in rejecting the pension proposals of the petitioner vide Proceedings No.P10/1/V/1360/SP851/2012-11/271554, dated 24.10.2018 while citing Rule 43(1) of A.P. Revised Pension Rules, 1980 as highly illegal, arbitrary exercise of power and violation of Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution o India and to set aside the same and consequently direct the respondent to release then pension and other retirement benefits for which the petitioner is entitled under Rule 45(2) and retiring gratuity under Rule 46(1)(b)(b) of A.P. Revied Pension Rules, 1980 with all consequential benefits along with 18% interest per annum.
3. PERUSED THE RECORD :
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4. The three Orders impugned in the present Writ Petition read as under :
I.
P10/1/V/1360/SP 851/2012-II/60319 Date : 09.01.2013 To The Gazetted Head Master, ZPPSS Muppanapally, Warangal District, A.P.
Sir, Sub:- Return of pension proposals of Sri P. Venkata Ramana, S.A. - English, ZPPSS, Muppanapally - Reg.
Ref:- Letter No.39/Pen/2012 dated 16.1..2012.
**** The pension proposals received in the reference cited are returned herewith as the Government Servant is not eligible for Voluntary Retirement. He has to complete 26 years Qualifying Service for Voluntary Retirement. As per Rule 43(1) of RPRs EOL shall not be reckoned as qualifying service for the purpose of arriving at the qualifying service of twenty years for pension.
Encl : Pension Proposals & Service Book.
Yours faithfully, Sd/-
Accounts Officer II.
OFFICE OF THE PRINICPAL ACCOUNTANT GENERAL (A&E) Telangana, Hyderabad - 500 004.
P10/1/V1360/SP851/2012-II/258996, Date : 12.06.2018 To The Gazetted Head Master, ZPPSS Muppanapally, Warangal District, A.P.
Sir, Sub:- Pension - Release of Pensionary benefits in f/o Sri P.Venkat Ramana, Retd. School Asst. - Reg. Ref:- 1. This Office Letter No. P10/1/V/1360/SP 851/2012-II/60319 Dt. 9.1.13.
2. Your office letter No. 32/Pen/20, dt. 5.3.18.
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****
In continuation of this officer letter 1st cited, it is to inform that the service put in by the Government servant excluding EOL period is less than 20 years. He has to complete 20 years of qualifying service for voluntary retirement. Hence he is not eligible for voluntary retirement.
The proposals and service book are returned herewith. The receipt of the same may be acknowledge. Encl : PPS & Service Book.
Yours faithfully, Sd/-
Sr. Accounts Officer III.
OFFICE OF THE PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT GENERAL (A&E) Telangana, Hyderabad - 500 004 P15/P10/L/V1360/SP851/2012-11/27155, Date: 24-10-2018 To The District Educational Officer, Warangal District.
Sir Sub: Pension- Permission to retire on voluntary basis in respect of Sri Venkata Ramana retired School Assistant - Reg.
Ref:- 1.Your Lr.No. 39/Pen/2012 dated 16-11-2012.
2.This Office Lr.No. P10/1/V.1360/SP 851/2012- 11/60319 dt.9-1-2013.
3.Your Lr.No. 32/Pen/20 dt.5-3-2018.
4.This Office Lr.No.P10/1/V.1360/SP 851/2012- 11/258996- 258997, Dt. 15.6.2018.
5. Your letter No. 49/2018 dt. 7-7-2018.
**** Pension proposals forwarded vide reference 4th cited for sanction of pensionary benefits in respect of Sri P. Venkata Ramana retired School Assistant who retired voluntarily on 12-7-2011 are retired herewith. This office vide Lr.No. P10/1/V.1360/SP 851/2012-11/258996, dated 15.6.2018 has already sated that the Govt. Servant was not eligible for voluntary retirement as the service put in by the Government Servant excluding the EOL period is less than 20 years.
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As per rule 43 (1) of APRS 1980 a Govt. Servant should have put in not less than 20 (twenty) years of qualifying service. As per your proposals dt.7.7.2018 he has completed a qualifying service of 16 years 3 months and 9 days which is contrary to Rule permitting to retire on voluntary basis.
In this regard it is requested to intimate the provisions under which the Government Servant was permitted to retire voluntarily on 12.07.2011 vide proceedings Rc.No. 902/B1/2011. On 3.7.2011 by District Educational Officer, Warangal even though the required service of 20 years was not put in by the Govt. Servant.
An early report is solicited to enable this office to take further necessary action.
5. Para 8 of the Counter Affidavit filed by the Respondents reads as under :
8. It is submitted that the Commissioner & Director of School Education vide proceedings dt. 26.09.2012 directed the District Educational Officer, Warangal to sanction leave period from 01.02.2008 to 04.01.2011 as EOL on private affairs. Accordingly, the then District Educational Officer, Warangal sanctioned extraordinary leave for the said period on private affairs vide proceedings dated 16.10.2012, the Petitioner without verifying the provisions of the Fundamental Rules application for sanction of voluntary retirement by including the period from 01.02.2008 to 04.01.2011 which was sanctioned as EOL on private affairs and requested for voluntary retirement in violation of rules. Therefore, there is no genuinity on the request of the petitioner for sanction of pensionary benefits treating his retirement under voluntary case.
DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION :
6. Vide Proceedings Rc.No.902/B1/2011, dt. 08.07.2011 of the District Educational Officer, Warangal, the petitioner was informed that permission was accorded to the petitioner for wp_1826_2019 5 SN,J Petitioner's Voluntary Retirement on private affairs as per Rule 43 of A.P. Revised Pension Rules, 1980. In the said proceedings dt. 08.07.2011 it is very clearly stated by the District Educational Officer, Warangal, that the Petitioner worked more than 21 years in various cadres. Vide Letter dt. 12.07.2011 of the Petitioner addressed to the 2nd Respondent herein the Petitioner made a request of sanction of extra ordinary leaves on private affairs from 01.02.2008 to 04.01.2011. Vide Proc. Rc.No.129/D3-1/2012, dt. 26.09.2021 of the 2nd Respondent herein, the 2nd Respondent permitted the 3rd Respondent District Educational Officer, Warangal to sanction EOL and private affairs to the Petitioner for the period from 01.02.2008 to 04.01.2011. Vide Letter No.39/Pen/2012, dt. 16.11.2012 the Gazetted Head Master, ZPPSS, Muppanapally, Warangal District addressed to the Accountant General (A&E) Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, the service/family pension papers of the Petitioner along with the required documents was forwarded for authorizing pensionary benefits of the Petitioner who retired from service on 12.07.2011 on voluntary basis. But however vide the impugned orders the pension proposals and service book was wp_1826_2019 6 SN,J returned and the request of the Petitioner for pensionary benefits was denied.
7. A bare perusal of the letter dt. 08.07.2011 vide Proc.Rc.No.902/B1/2011 of the District Educational Officer, Warangal clearly indicates a clear observation that the Petitioner worked for more than 21 years in various cadres and the same is contrary to what is stated in the impugned letters dt. 09.01.2013, 12.06.2018 and 24.10.2018.
8. A bare perusal of the Rule 21 of the A.P. Revised Pension Rules, 1980 reads as follows :
Rule 21. Counting of periods spent on leave:-
(1) All leave during service for which leave salary is payable and all extraordinary leave granted on medical certificate shall count as qualifying service:
Provided that in the case of extraordinary leave (other than extraordinary leave granted on medical certificate) the appointing authority may, at the time of granting such leave, allow the period of that leave to count as qualifying service if such leave is granted to a Government servant.
(i) due to his inability to join or rejoin duty on account of civil commotion; or
(ii) for prosecuting higher scientific and technical studies.
(2) Extraordinary leave granted for other reasons than those mentioned above will count as qualifying service up to a maximum extent of 36 months in the entire wp_1826_2019 7 SN,J service provided that in the case of a Government servant taking employment elsewhere, extraordinary leave will count as qualifying service subject to payment of pension contribution and leave contribution, as may be prescribed.
9. The main reasons for returning the pension proposals of the petitioner and rejecting petitioner's request for release of pensionary benefits as per the 3 impugned orders in the present Writ Petition are two fold :
(i) As per Rule 43(1) of RPRs EOL shall not be reckoned as qualifying service for the purpose of arriving at the qualifying service of twenty years for pension.
(ii) On the ground that the service put in by the Petitioner excluding the EOL period is less than 20 years.
10. A bare perusal of Rule 45(2) of A.P. Revised Pension Rules, 1980 reads as under :
45(2) : In the case of a Government servant retiring in accordance with the provisions of these rules after completing qualifying service of not less than ten years, the amount of pension shall be the appropriate amount as set out below, namely :
-------------------------------------------------------------------- Completed six monthly periods Scale of pension of qualifying service
--------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) (2)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
(B) Pension
20. 10/66ths *of average emoluments
21. 10 1/2/66 do
22. 11/66 do wp_1826_2019 8 SN,J
23. 11 1/2/66 do
24. 12/66 do
25. 12 1/2/66 do
26. 13/66 do
27. 13 1/2/66 do
28. 14/66 do
29. 14 1/2/66 do
30. 15/66 do
31. 15 1/2/66 do
32. 16/66 do
33. 16 1/2/66 do
34. 17/66 do
35. 17 1/2/66 do
36. 18/66 do
37. 18 1/2/66 do
38. 19/66 do
39. 19 1/2/66 do
40. 20/66 do
41. 20 1/2/66 do
42. 21/66 do
43. 21 1/2/66 do
44. 22/66 do
45. 22 1/2/66 do
46. 23/66 do
47. 23 1/2/66 do
48. 24/66 do
49. 24 1/2/66 do
50. 25/66 * do
51. 25 1/2/66 do
52. 26/66 do
53. 26 1/266 do
54. 27/66 do
55. 27 1/2/66 do
56. 28/66 do
57. 28 1/2/66 do
58. 29/66 do
59. 29 1/2/66 do
60. 30/66 do
61. 30 1/2/66 do
62. 31/66 do
63. 31 1/2/66 do
64. 32/66 do
65. 32 1/2/66 do
66. 33/66 do wp_1826_2019 9 SN,J
11. In the present case it is very clear that the 2nd Respondent i.e., the Commissioner and Director of School Education, Telangana Hyderabad vide Proc. Rc.No.148/D3-1/2012, dt. 26.09.2012 addressed to the District Educational Officer, Warangal permitted him to sanction EOL on Private Affairs for the period from 01.02.2008 to 04.01.2011 to the Petitioner herein and the District Educational Officer, Warangal vide Proc.Rc.No.902/B1/2011, dt. 08.07.2011 accorded permission to the Petitioner for Petitioner's voluntary retirement on private affairs as per Rule 43 of the A.P. Revised Pension Rules, 1980 clearly holding that the Petitioner worked more than 21 years in various cadres. The Petitioner also retired from service on 08.07.2011. A bare perusal of Rule 45(2) of the A.P. Revised Pension Rules, 1980 extracted above also clearly indicates that the Government servant who is retiring after completing qualifying service of not less than 10 years is eligible for pension to an amount as set out in the table shown in Rule 45(2).
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12. The Apex Court in its Judgement reported in (2022) 6 SCC 211 in Shankar Lal v. Hindustan Copper Limited & Others, dated 20.04.2022 at para 26 observed as under :
"We do not think the appellant's complaint over the dispute was belated so as to non-suit him on this count alone. VRS benefit is an entitlement and assumes the character of property to the employee concerned once his application for VRS is accepted. It is the right of a person under Article 300-A of the Constitution of India to have the VRS benefit to be given on accurate assessment thereof, the employer here being a public sector unit. If at the time of quantifying the VRS benefit after accepting an employee's application for voluntary retirement, the employer takes any step that would reduce such benefit in monetary terms, such step shall have to be taken under the authority of law".
13. This Court opines that there is no justification in rejecting Petitioner's request for release of pensionary benefits vide the impugned letters dated 09.01.2013, 12.06.2018 and 24.10.2018, having permitted the Petitioner's voluntary retirement as per Rule 43 of A.P. Revised Pension Rules, 1980 vide Proc.Rc.No.902/B1/ 2011, dated 08.07.2011 of the District Educational Officer, Warangal and further having observed in the said letter that the Petitioner worked more than 21 years in various cadres. A bare perusal of Rule 45(2) of wp_1826_2019 11 SN,J the A.P. Revised Pension Rules, 1980 extracted above also clearly indicates that the Government servant who is retiring after completing qualifying service of not less than 10 years is eligible for pension to an amount as set out in the table shown in Rule 45(2).
14. Taking into consideration the above referred circumstances and also the law laid down by the Apex Court in the judgment referred to and extracted above, this Court opines that after accepting the petitioner's application for voluntary retirement and after permitting the petitioner to retire, the petitioner cannot be denied any benefits legally due to the petitioner in monetary terms without any authority of law since VRS benefit is an entitlement and assumes the character of property to the employee concerned once his application for VRS is accepted, the Writ Petition is therefore, liable to be allowed as prayed for.
15. The writ petition is accordingly, allowed as prayed for and the impugned orders P10/1/V/1360/SP 851/2012-II/60319, Dated 09.01.2013, P10/1/V1360 /SP851/2012-II/258996, Dated 12.06.2018 and wp_1826_2019 12 SN,J P15/P10/L/V1360 /SP851/2012-11/271554, Dated 24-10-2018 are hereby set aside. The respondents are directed to process the petitioner's pension proposals forthwith and release all the benefits legally due to the petitioner from the date of the petitioner's voluntary retirement i.e., 08.07.2011, in accordance to law, within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of the order. There shall be no order as to costs.
Miscellaneous applications, if any, pending shall stand dismissed.
___________________ SUREPALLI NANDA, J Date: 27.10.2022 Note: L.R.copy to be marked b/o kvrm