Allahabad High Court
Bhudev Trivedi vs Shri Sunil Kumar Verma Secretary ... on 22 June, 2021
Bench: Mahesh Chandra Tripathi
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
?Court No. - 36
Case :- CONTEMPT APPLICATION (CIVIL) No. - 1778 of 2021
Applicant :- Bhudev Trivedi
Opposite Party :- Shri Sunil Kumar Verma Secretary And Chief Executive Officer, Dist. Cooperative Bank And Another
Counsel for Applicant :- Kunal Shah,Suvansit Kumar Jaiswal
Hon'ble Mahesh Chandra Tripathi,J.
Heard learned counsel for the applicant through video conferencing.
By order dated 09.12.2020 passed in Special Appeal Defective No.872 of 2020 filed by the applicant, a Division Bench of this Court directed as under:
"As already stated, service rules including the rules applicable for determining pension and other post retiral benefits do not prescribe for recovery of any dues or liabilities from gratuity. In absence of such authority, it was not open for the employer to withheld the gratuity earned by the appellant-petitioner.
Suffice to state that otherwise too the gratuity is immune from attachment under clause (g) of sub-Section (1) of Section 60 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. According to it, stipends and gratuities allowed to pensioners of the Government or of a local authority or of any other employer, or payable out of any service family pension fund notified in the Official Gazette by the Central Government or the State Government in this behalf, and political pensions shall not be liable to attachment or sale.
Under Section 13 of the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 also no gratuity payable under the Act of 1972 and no gratuity payable to an employee employed in any establishment, factory, mine, oilfield, plantation, port, railway company or shop exempted under Section 5 shall be liable to attachment in execution of any decree or order of any civil, revenue or criminal court.
The effect of clause (g) of sub-Section (1) of Section 60 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 and also Section 13 of the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 would be that even to satisfy a decree granted by a court or in any other eventuality the liability fastened on a person in no case would be satisfied by attaching gratuity. The gratuity as such is having immunity from attachment. Meaning thereby that even on having a decree or an order, as the case may be, the dues/default or liability of any nature cannot be satisfied from the gratuity. For this reason the immunity given by statute obviously restrains the employer from withholding gratuity by an employer to satisfy liability arising due to a Non-Performing Asset. Learned single Bench under the judgment impugned has not considered this aspect of the matter.
In view of whatever stated above, this appeal deserves acceptance. Accordingly, the same is allowed. The order impugned dated 24th October, 2019 passed by learned single Bench in Writ-A No.17000 of 2019 is set aside. The writ petition preferred by the appellant-petitioner is accepted. The withholding of gratuity by the respondent-bank is declared illegal. Hence, the same is quashed with a direction to the respondent-bank to make payment of gratuity to the appellant-petitioner within a period of 15 days from today with interest that has been earned under the Fixed Deposit Account bearing no.012572 dated 11th June, 2019."
Learned counsel for the applicant submits that a certified copy of the aforesaid order was submitted for compliance before the opposite party but the opposite party has wilfully not complied with the order and, thus, has committed civil contempt liable for punishment under Section 12 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971.
Prima facie a case of contempt has been made out. However, considering the facts and circumstances of the case, one more opportunity is afforded to the opposite party to comply with the aforesaid order of the Court in letter and spirit within two months from the date of production of a certified copy of this order.
The applicant shall supply a duly stamped registered envelope addressed to the opposite party and another self-addressed stamped envelope to the office within one week from today. The office shall send a copy of this order along with the self-addressed envelope of the applicant with a copy of contempt application to the opposite party within one week thereafter and keep a recorded thereof.
The opposite party shall comply with the directions of the writ court and intimate him of the order through the self-addressed envelop within a week thereafter.
With the aforesaid observations, this application is disposed of at this stage with liberty to the applicant to move a fresh application, if the order is not complied with by the opposite party within the stipulated time as aforementioned.
The party shall file computer generated copy of such order downloaded from the official website of High Court Allahabad, self attested by the petitioners alongwith a self attested identity proof of the said person (preferably Aadhar Card) mentioning the mobile number to which the said Aadhar Card is linked.
The concerned Court/Authority/Official shall verify the authenticity of such computerized copy of the order from the official website of High Court Allahabad and shall make a declaration of such verification in writing.
Order Date :- 22.6.2021
RKP
