The Delhi High Court bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Saurabh Banerjee in the case of Smt. Shiksha Vs Union of India and Ors held that the pensionary benefits can be availed to the employees who were dismissed from their service under special circumstances.
Brief Facts of the Case
The factual matrix of the case is that the petitioner is the wife of the late Naik Krishanpal Singh, who was employed in the CISF as a guard and was posted in Rihandagar, a super thermal power project in Uttar Pradesh. During his tenure of service, he was charged for having assaulted a head constable using the rifle and was dismissed from service vide order dated 24.11.1994. Following that, he filed several appeals against the charge sheet, suspension order, and dismissal order issued against him, all of which were rejected by the respondents.
Finally, he approached the Court by filing writ, which was later dismissed. After a lengthy hearing, the case was dismissed by default. Thereafter, the present petition arises which was filed by the wife of the late Naik Krishanpal Singh seeking quashing of the order dated 27.12.2018.
The Learned Counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner contended that after the dismissal of service, Naik Krishanpal Singh started working as labor, and during the pendency of the petition, he passed away. With no source of income and the responsibility of caring for small children, the petitioner worked as a laborer for a few days before filing a representation to the competent authority for the grant of pensionary benefits on 22.08.2008. But the representation was dismissed vide order dated 02.09.2008 on grounds that the application was incomplete and lacked material details.
The counsel further contended that the benefits of provident fund, gratuity, leave encashment and any other monetary benefits were not granted to him. It was submitted before the court that more than 15 years have passed, the petitioner still has been following the case of her deceased husband and the petitioner has been working as a daily wage worker and earning a scanty amount of Rs. 36000 per year. Now, she has attained the age of 60 years and is unable to continue with this labor work.
According to the CCS Pension Rules, the competent authority may grant a compassionate allowance in exceptional circumstances, according to learned counsel. In this regard, this Court was drawn to Rule 41 of the CCS of the Pension Rules, 1972, as well as a letter dated 30.03.2015 (Annexure P-5) written by the Directorate General, Central Industrial Security Force, Ministry of Home Affairs, submitting that compensatory allowance is payable in deserving cases.
The Counsel supports his arguments by relying on the apex court judgment, Mahinder Dutt Sharma vs. Union of India & others, 2014 Latest Caselaw 254 SC
The Learned Counsel for the respondents contended that the petitioner’s husband was enrolled as a security guard in the year 1972 and was charge-sheeted for misconduct and indiscipline in the year, 1994. According to the respondents, the petitioner’s husband has been punished 18 times during his service, and since, he was dismissed from his service because of gross misconduct and indiscipline, he is not entitled to get the pension.
High Court's Observation
The court held that the petitioner has been running from pillar to post in order to find help for her and her family's survival. The current petition was filed in 2019. As of the filing of the current petition, the petitioner, the widow of the late Naik Krishanpal Singh, was 60 years old and was said to be in financial distress.
The Court relied on the judgment Ex ASI Shadi Ram Vs. Government of NCT of Delhi and Ors, wherein, the applicability of Rule 41 of the Rules were discussed and Ex.L/NK Mahabir Prasad Vs. Union of India and Ors, wherein the official, was dismissed from the service because of unauthorized absence from duty after 23 years of service, had sought compassionate allowance on the grounds that he came from a poor and backward family and lacked a source of income, and the Division Bench had granted the appeal under the provisions of Rule 41 of the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972.
The Court, in the present case, finds that the petitioner is worthy of getting special consideration under the provision of Rule 41 of the CCS (Pension) Rule, 1972. The court
directed the respondent to pay compassionate allowance to the petitioner from the date of filing the petition and along with this, the court also asked to clear all the arrears within 4 weeks.
CASE NAME- SMT Shiksha Vs Union of India and Ors
CORAM- Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Saurabh Banerjee
CASE DETAILS- W.P.(C) 7067/2019
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