Tomy George vs Kerala State Financial ...
2022 Latest Caselaw 12378 Ker

              IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
                                  PRESENT
             THE HONOURABLE MRS. JUSTICE ANU SIVARAMAN
     FRIDAY, THE 23RD DAY OF DECEMBER 2022 / 2ND POUSHA, 1944
                         WP(C) NO. 27997 OF 2022
PETITIONER:
          TOMY GEORGE
          AGED 60 YEARS
          S/O.KURUVILA, PEEDIKAYIL(H),
          KAVAKKAD.P.O, ENANALLOOR,
          MUVATTUPUZUZHA-686668.

             BY ADVS.
             R.SANJITH
             C.S.SINDHU KRISHNAH
             P.S.ANJU
             SURAJ KRISHNAN
             SHALU JOSE
             RAHUL S.NATH


RESPONDENTS:
     1    KERALA STATE FINANCIAL ENTERPRISES LIMITED (KSFE)
          "BHADRATHA", THRISSUR-680020.
          REPRESENTED BY ITS MANAGING DIRECTOR.

     2       MANAGING DIRECTOR,
             KERALA STATE FINANCIAL ENTERPRISES LIMITED,
             "BHADRATHA", THRISSUR-680020.

     3       THE DEPUTY GENERAL MANAGER( D.G.M(P&HR),
             KERALA STATE FINANCIAL ENTERPRISED LIMITED,
             "BHADRATHA", THRISSUR-680020.

             BY ADVS.
             M.GOPIKRISHNAN NAMBIAR
             K.JOHN MATHAI
             JOSON MANAVALAN
             KURYAN THOMAS
             PAULOSE C. ABRAHAM
             RAJA KANNAN




      THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION
ON   23.12.2022,   THE    COURT   ON   THE   SAME   DAY   DELIVERED   THE
FOLLOWING:
 WP(C) NO.27997 OF 2022

                              -: 2 :-




                           JUDGMENT

Dated this the 23rd day of December, 2022

This writ petition is filed seeking the following relief :-

"i. To issue a writ of mandamus and direct the respondents to release the pay revision arrears, leave surrender, deferred salary amount, dearness allowance, festival allowance and incentive for the year 2020 to 2021 due to the petitioner along with 9% interest from the date it has fallen due till actual payment, as expeditiously as possible, within a time

frame to be fixed by this Hon'ble Court."

2. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner

and the learned Standing Counsel appearing for the

respondents.

3. It is submitted by the learned counsel for the

petitioner that the petitioner had retired from the

service of the respondent on 31.05.2020. It is

submitted that no amounts had been disbursed to the WP(C) NO.27997 OF 2022

petitioner and that there is no liability fastened on the

petitioner by any means known to law. It is submitted

that the petitioner is therefore entitled to release of all

the benefits due on account of the long years of the

service rendered by him including pay revision

arrears,leave surrender, deferred salary amount,

dearness allowance, festival allowance, incentive for

the year 2020 to 2021 etc. The learned counsel also

places reliance on Ext.P9 judgment of this Court dated

08.04.2022 in batch of writ petitions where the

respondent had been directed to pay the DCRG and

other benefits within three months and also directed to

pay the unpaid gratuity with interest at the rate of 6%.

4. A counter affidavit has been placed on record

by the respondents as directed by this court. It is

contended that the petitioner had retired from service

on 31.05.2020 and that the writ petition filed only on

29.08.2022 is therefore highly belated. It is further

submitted that the gratuity amounts and the gratuity WP(C) NO.27997 OF 2022

arrears have been released to the petitioner and the

remaining amounts are non-statutory in character and

that the writ petition for release of such amounts is not

maintainable. It is further contended that the loss

sustained by the Company owing to the misconduct of

the petitioner was quantified at Rs.7,90,610/- which

was recommended to recover from concerned staff till

the final settlement of revenue recovery files and

therefore, terminal earned leave surrender and

incentives have been withheld from the benefits of the

petitioner.

5. Having considered the contentions advanced,

I notice that though the petitioner retired on

31.05.2020, it is not the case of the respondents that

the amounts are not due to the petitioner and the

contention is only that there is a liability with regard to

the branches where the petitioner had officiated before

retirement. The 1st respondent, being a public

authority, cannot be heard to contend that a Writ WP(C) NO.27997 OF 2022

Petition is not maintainable against it when monetary

benefits due are withheld without reason. It is clear

that no liability has been fixed against the petitioner by

any means known to law. No disciplinary proceedings

were also initiated against the petitioner.

6. This Court had considered an identical

situation in Ext.P9 judgment and had held that in the

absence of any proper proceedings for recovery or

withholding of benefits which are due to the petitioner

therein, the non disbursal of the amounts is completely

unacceptable. All the contentions raised by the

respondents in their counter affidavit have been

specifically considered and found against in Ext.P9

judgment. The contention raised by the respondent

that the writ petition is belated cannot also be accepted

for the simple reason that the amounts due to the

petitioner are result of long years of service and that

there is a recurring cause of action to the petitioner on

every day, that the amounts remain unpaid. The issue WP(C) NO.27997 OF 2022

of maintainability also, according to me, stands covered

against the respondents in view of the fact that the

respondents cannot contend that they are not duty

bound to release the amounts in the absence of any

proper procedure for imposing the liability.

In the above view of the matter, this writ

petition is allowed. There will, accordingly, be a

direction to the respondents to release the gratuity due

to the petitioner, if any, within three months from the

date of receipt of a copy of this judgment, with interest

at the rate of 6% p.a. from the date on which the

payment was due. All other amounts due will also be

released within the three months as stipulated above.

In case the amounts due are not released within the

three months as directed above, they shall carry

interest at the rate of 9% till the date of payment.

Sd/-

ANU SIVARAMAN JUDGE WP(C) NO.27997 OF 2022

SSK/23/12

APPENDIX

PETITIONER EXHIBITS

Exhibit P1 TRUE COPY OF THE LETTER DATED 25/05/2020 ISSUED BY THE 3RD RESPONDENT TO THE PETITIONER

Exhibit P2 TRUE COPY OF THE LETTER DATED 29/05/2020 ISSUED BY THE GENERAL MANAGER(FINANCE) OF THE 1ST RESPONDENT COMPANY TO THE BRANCH MANAGER, KOTHAMANGALAM.

Exhibit P3 TRUE COPY OF THE LETTER DATED 29/5/2020 ISSUED BY THE GENERAL MANAGER(FINANCE) OF THE 1ST RESPONDENT COMPANY TO THE BRANCH MANAGER, KOTHAMANGALAM.

Exhibit P4 TRUE COPY OF THE RTI APPLICATION DATED 08/07/2022 PREFERRED BY THE PETITIONER UNDER THE RTI ACT, 2005.

Exhibit P5 TRUE COPY OF THE RTI APPLICATION DATED 08/07/2022 PREFERRED BY THE PETITIONER UNDER THE RTI ACT, 2005

Exhibit P6 TRUE COPY OF THE JUDGMENT OF THIS HONOURABLE COURT DATED 03/03/2020 IN WP(C)NO.18942/2019.

Exhibit P7 TRUE COPY OF THE JUDGMENT OF THIS HONOURABLE COURT DATED 26/09/2019 IN WP(C)NO.32811/2018.

Exhibit P8 TRUE COPY OF THE JUDGMENT OF THE DIVISION BENCH OF THE HONOURABLE COURT DATED 22/02/2019 IN WP(C)NO.30292/2018.

Exhibit P9 TRUE COPY OF THE JUDGMENT OF THIS HONOURABLE COURT DATED 08/04/2022 IN WP(C)NO.21493/2021.