Jharkhand High Court
Juthi Mukherjee vs The State Of Jharkhand on 14 September, 2023
1
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI
W.P.(S) No. 1980 of 2023
Juthi Mukherjee ... ... Petitioner
Versus
1. The State of Jharkhand
2. The Principal Secretary, Department of Higher and Technical
Education, Government of Jharkhand, Ranchi
3. The Director, Department of Higher and Technical Education,
Government of Jharkhand, Ranchi
4. Ranchi University, Ranchi through its Vice Chancellor, Ranchi
5. The Registrar, Ranchi University, Ranchi
6. St. Xaviers' College, Purulia Road, Ranchi through its Principal
... ... Respondents
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH SHANKAR
-----
For the Petitioner : Mr. A. Allam, Sr. Advocate
Ms. Asfia Sultana, Advocate
For the Respondent Nos.1 to 3 : Mr. Vishal Kumar Rai, AC to GA-IV
For the Respondent Nos.4 & 5 : Mr. A.K. Mehta, Advocate
For the Respondent No. 6 : Mr. Sudarshan Srivastava, Advocate
-----
Order No. 06 Dated: 14.09.2023
The present writ petition has been filed for issuance of
direction upon the concerned respondents to release the arrears of
pension of late Dr. Shambhu Nath Mukherjee, Reader, Department of
Chemistry, St. Xaviers' College, Ranchi, who retired on 28.02.1994 and
subsequently died on 13.10.2019, as the petitioner being her widow
deserves the aforesaid benefits in terms with judgment dated
12.08.2016 passed by this Court in W.P.(S) No. 1654 of 2013 and other
analogous cases.
2. Mr. Sudarshan Srivastava, learned counsel for the
respondent no. 6, refers to the counter affidavit filed on behalf of the
said respondent on 17.08.2023 and submits that the petitioner raised
these claims for the first time by preferring a representation on
02.03.2023 in the light of judgment dated 12.08.2016 passed in W.P.(S)
No. 1654 of 2013 and other analogous cases. Since the documents
required for processing the claims of her husband were not found in the
record room of the Institution/college, letter no. 24/23 dated
28.04.2023 was issued by the respondent no. 6 to the petitioner
requesting her to make the documents mentioned in the said letter
available so that her application for disbursement of retiral benefits
could be processed immediately. Though she provided some of the
documents, however, in absence of service book and few other
documents, the respondent no. 6 is not in a position to process the
claims and forward the same to the University for sanctioning and
further forwarding it to the State Government. The respondent no. 6 has
also issued letter no. 23/23 dated 28.04.2023 to the petitioner
requesting her to surrender/refund a sum of Rs.92,653/- (inclusive of
interest) towards employer's share of 10% of basic pay received under
CPF scheme by depositing the same in the government account
mentioned in Department of Higher Technical Education and Skill
Development (DHTE & SD) letter No. 2164 dated 26.11.2018 as well as
to submit the receipt in the college so that further processing can be
done. After receipt of the required documents, the claim for
disbursement shall be processed immediately and necessary documents
shall be forwarded to the University for further needful.
3. Mr. Srivastava also points out that the petitioner vide letter
dated 12.05.2023 (Annexure-R-6/D to the counter affidavit) informed
the Bursar of St. Xavier's College, Ranchi that she would
surrender/refund Rs.92,653/- after receiving the arrears of pension.
Alternatively, she also requested to deduct the said amount from the
arrears of pension. The said condition put by the petitioner is not proper
and, therefore, she may be directed to refund/deposit the said amount
to further proceed in the matter.
4. Having heard learned counsel for the parties and considering
the facts and circumstance of the case, the writ petition is disposed of in
following terms:
(i) The petitioner is directed to surrender/refund an
amount of Rs.92,653/- (capital amount of
Rs.62,485/- + Interest of Rs.30,168/-) on account
of the employer's share of 10% of basic pay
received under CPF scheme by depositing the same
in the government account i.e., Main Budget Head -
202 (Receipt Head), Bill Code - 020201913010101.
(ii) The petitioner shall submit the remaining
documents mentioned in letter dated 28.04.2023
issued to her by the respondent no. 6 - the Principal
St. Xavier's College, Ranchi (Annexure-R-6/A to the
counter affidavit).
(iii) On deposit of the aforesaid amount as well as
on submission of the aforesaid documents before
the respondent no. 6, the said respondent shall
make appropriate calculation and provisionally fix
the pension of the petitioner's husband late Dr.
Shambhu Nath Mukherjee as well as family pension
of the petitioner and forward all the required
documents to the respondent no. 5 - the Registrar,
Ranchi University, Ranchi within four weeks.
(iv) Thereafter, the respondent no. 5 on verifying
the relevant documents shall issue the Pension
Payment Order (PPO) to the respondent no. 6 within
three weeks.
(v) On receipt of the PPO, the respondent no. 6
shall make a demand from the respondent no. 5,
which shall be verified at its end and be forwarded
to the respondent no. 3 - the Director, Department
of Higher and Technical Education, Government of
Jharkhand, Ranchi within two weeks thereafter.
(vi) The respondent no. 3 shall take appropriate
steps to approve the said demand and forward the
same to the respondent no. 6 within three weeks for
actual payment of the admissible dues to the
petitioner.
(vii) The respondent no. 6 thereafter shall ensure
the payment to the petitioner within two weeks.
(Rajesh Shankar, J.)
Manish
