Prabir Kumar Goswami vs The State Of West Bengal & Ors
2023 Latest Caselaw 6988 Cal

11.10.2023             IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA
  DL-188             CONSTITUTIONAL WRIT JURISDICTION
   (PP)                     APPELLATE SIDE
                           WPA 24099 of 2023

                          Prabir Kumar Goswami
                                   Vs.
                      The State of West Bengal & Ors.

                  Mr. Srinjay Sengupta,
                  Mr. Saurav Roy,
                  Mr. Narattam Acharyya,
                  Mr. Ankush Ghosh
                                             ....for the petitioner.
                  Ms. Deblina Chattaraj,
                  Ms. Angana Dutta
                                                   .....for WBTCL.
                  Mr. Manas Kumar Sadhu
                                                   ....for the State.


                     Affidavit of service filed in Court today is

             retained with the records.

                     The writ petitioner was a permanent employee

             of the West Bengal Transport      Corporation   Limited

             (in short 'the WBTCL') previously known as the

             Calcutta     Tramways Company (1978) Limited. The

             writ petitioner retired from his service on January 31,

             2015.

                     The petitioner prays for interest on the delayed

             payment of the retiral dues. The provident fund dues

             aggregating Rs.4,66,709/- was paid on June 8, 2015.

             Gratuity and leave encashment benefits to the tune of

             Rs.5,96,684/- was paid on September 3, 2015.

                     Ms. Chattaraj, learned counsel appears on

             behalf of the CSTC.
                       2




        The writ petitioner is entitled to interest from

February 1, 2015 (the date subsequent to the date of

retirement) till June 8, 2015 of Rs.4,66,709/- being

the provident fund amount and from February 1,

2015     till   September   3,       2015    on   the    sum   of

Rs.5,96,684/-       being      the     gratuity     and    leave

encashment amount.

        The respondent authority/CSTC is directed to

pay the aforesaid payment within three months from

date. In the event, the said amount is not disbursed

within the stipulated period, the rate of interest will

stand enhanced to 10% per annum being the

statutory rate under the payment of Gratuity Act,

1972.

The petitioner is entitled to claim such interest.

A beneficial reference may be made to an

order/judgment passed by the Hon'ble Division Bench

in F.M.A. 3942 of 2016 (Amarnath Tiwari & Ors. vs.

State of West Bengal & Ors.) This Court is of the

view that the laws of limitation are not applicable in

exercise of jurisdiction under Article 226 of the

Constitution of India relying on a judgment passed by

the Apex Court reported in 2022 Live Law (SC) 785

(State of Rajasthan & Ors. Vs. O.P. Gupta). It has

also been held in the said decision that the Court

cannot be oblivious to the difficulties of a retired

employee in approaching the Court, which could

include financial constraints.

With the directions aforesaid, the writ petition,

being WPA 24099 of 2023, is disposed of.

Since no affidavits have been called for in the

writ petition, the allegations contained therein be

deemed not to have been admitted by the

respondents.

Needless to mention, in case the petitioner has

occupied the quarter granted by the employer after

his retirement the occupation charges for the said

quarter will be deducted from the retiral benefits that

the petitioner is entitled to as per the extant rules and

policies of the employer/CSTC.

All parties are to act on a server copy of this

order downloaded from the official website of this

Hon'ble Court.

Urgent certified website copies of this order, if

applied for, be made available to the parties subject to

compliance with all requisite formalities.

(Lapita Banerji, J.)