Bombay High Court
Madhukar Vishwanath Dharkar vs State Of Mah. Thru. Secty. And 2 Ors on 11 July, 2017
Bench: Ravi K. Deshpande
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY :
NAGPUR BENCH : NAGPUR.
Writ Petition No.5602 of 2006
Madhukar Vishwanath Dharkar,
Aged 77 years, Occ.- Pensioner,
Resident of I-49, Tatya Tope Nagar, Nagpur. .... Petitioner.
-Versus-
1] State of Maharashtra,
through it's Secretary,
Water Resources Department,
Mantralaya, Mumbai 440032.
2] The Chief Executive Officer,
Zilla Parishad, Bhandara.
3] The Accountant General,
Maharashtra Office of the Accountant General
(Accounts & Entitlement) II, Civil Lines,
Nagpur 440 001. .... Respondents.
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Shri G.M. Shitut, Counsel for petitioner.
Ms M.P. Munshi, Counsel for respondent no.2.
Shri N.S. Rao, Assistant Government Pleader for respondent
nos. 1 and 2.
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Coram : R. K. Deshpande &
Mrs. Swapna Joshi, JJ.
Dated : 11 July, 2017
th
ORAL JUDGMENT (Per R. K. Deshpande, J.)
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On 29-06-2017, after hearing the parties concerned, we passed
an order as under :-
"It is not in dispute that as on this date
there is no impediment in releasing the amount of
gratuity of Rs.56,000/- to the petitioner, which was
payable to him upon attaining the age of
superannuation on 30-6-1988.
The respondent No.2-Zilla Parishad,
Bhandara, has deposited the said amount in this
Court on 2-7-2017 in response to the order dated
15-4-2015 passed by this Court. We, therefore,
permit the petitioner to withdraw the said amount
along with interest accrued thereon.
So far as the payment of interest on the said
amount from 30-6-1988 till this date is concerned,
put up this matter on 10-7-2017.
In the meantime, the respondent Nos. 2 and
3 shall file an affidavit stating as to how much
amount of interest and at what rate, is required to
be paid to the petitioner for this entire period, and
who shall pay the amount.
If the affidavit is not filed on or before the
next date, the respondent Nos. 2 and 3 shall pay
the costs of Rs.5,000/- each to the petitioner."
2] In response to the aforesaid order, the respondents have filed
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the affidavits which are taken on record. According to the
respondent no.2-Chief Executive Officer, Zilla Parishad, Bhandara,
the delay in releasing the amount of gratuity was on the part of the
Accountant General of Maharashtra who is the respondent no.3. The
respondent no.2 submits that it is respondent no.3 who is responsible
for the delay caused in making the payment.
3] The petitioner is entitled to interest on delayed payment of
gratuity in terms of Government Resolution dated 24-04-1995 read
with Rule 129-A of the Maharashtra Civil Services (Pension) Rules,
1982, is not a fact which is disputed by any of the respondents.
Under Rule 129-A of the said Rules, the petitioner can be denied the
interest if the delay in payment of gratuity is attributable to the
failure on the part of the petitioner to comply with the procedure laid
down under this Chapter. It is not the case of any of the respondents
that the petitioner was responsible or the delay caused is attributable
to the failure on the part of the petitioner to comply with the
procedural aspect. The petitioner cannot, therefore, be denied the
interest.
4] So far as the question of liability to pay the interest is
concerned, we are not going to adjudicate as to who is responsible to
make the payment of interest in accordance with the aforesaid
4 Judg. wp 5602.06.odt
provisions. The petitioner is entitled to interest which is a fact
undisputed. Hence, the petition to that extent needs to be allowed.
5] In the result, the Writ Petition is allowed as under :-
(i) The petitioner shall be entitled to interest in terms
of the provisions of Government Resolution dated
24-04-1995 read with Rule 129-A of the
Maharashtra Civil Service (Pension) Rules from
the date of attaining the age of superannuation i.e.
30-06-1988 till the date of actual payment.
(ii) The respondent no.2- Zilla Parishad, Bhandara, to
prepare a proposal for payment of such interest
within a period of one month from the date on
which the petitioner or his representative attends
the office of respondent no.2.
(iii) The proposal shall be forwarded to the respondent
no.3-Accountant General of Maharashtra for
release of the amount of interest.
(iv) If the respondent no.3 finds any defect in the
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proposal submitted, the same be communicated to
the respondent no.2 within a period of two weeks
from the date of receipt of such proposal and the
respondent no.2 shall comply with such
requirement within a period of 8 days thereafter.
(v) The respondent no.3 shall release the amount of
interest payable to the petitioner within a period of
10 weeks from the date of first appearance of the
petitioner or his representative before the
respondent no.2.
(vi) The petitioner or his representative to appear
before the respondent no.2 on 24-07-2017.
(vii) The dispute interse between the respondent nos. 2
and 3 is kept open to be agitated in appropriate
forum.
(viii) There shall not be withholding of interest on any
ground by any of the respondents.
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6] Put up this matter on 3-10-2017 i.e. after expiry of the period
of ten weeks, to see the compliance of the order. We are constrained
to pass this order because the petitioner is aged about 90 years.
JUDGE JUDGE
Deshmukh
