Kerala High Court
Dr. P.G. Latha vs Kerala State Council For Science on 5 September, 2024
Author: Murali Purushothaman
Bench: Murali Purushothaman
WP(C) No.29131/2024 1/8
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE MURALI PURUSHOTHAMAN
Thursday, the 5th day of September 2024 / 14th Bhadra, 1946
WP(C) NO. 29131 OF 2024
PETITIONER:
DR. P.G. LATHA, AGED 67 YEARS, (RETIRED DIRECTOR, JAWAHARLAL NEHRU
TROPICAL BOTANIC GARDEN AND RESEARCH INSTITUTE, PALODE P.O,
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM 695 562) RESIDING AT 'MALATHY', FLAT 8 B, SFS
GRANDE, SREE RANGAM LANE, SASTHAMANGALAM, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM , PIN -
695010
RESPONDENTS:
1. KERALA STATE COUNCIL FOR SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY & ENVIRONMENT,
REPRESENTED BY ITS MEMBER SECRETARY, SASTHRA BHAVAN, PATTOM.P.O,
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM., PIN - 695004
2. JAWAHARLAL NEHRU TROPICAL BOTANIC GARDEN AND RESEARCH INSTITUTE,
PALODE P.O, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM , REPRESENTED BY ITS DIRECTOR , PIN -
695562
3. KERALA FOREST RESEARCH INSTITUTE, PEECHI, THRISSUR, REPRESENTED BY
ITS DIRECTOR. , PIN - 680653
4. STATE OF KERALA, REPRESENTED BY THE SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT,
DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, SECRETARIAT,
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM , PIN - 695001
Writ petition (civil) praying inter alia that in the circumstances
stated in the affidavit filed along with the WP(C) the High Court be
pleased to direct the respondents to issue Non Liability Certificate, without further
delay pending disposal of this writ petition.
This petition again coming on for admission upon perusing the
petition and the affidavit filed in support of WP(C) and upon hearing the
arguments of M/S.THAMPAN THOMAS, B.V.JOY SANKAR, NINCY MATHEW & HENA
BAHULEYAN, Advocates for the petitioner,P. C. SASIDHARAN, STANDING COUNSEL
for R1, and C.K.KARUNAKARAN, STANDING COUNSEL for R2, C.K.PRASAD for R3
and of GOVERNMENT PLEADER for R4, the court passed the following:
WP(C) No.29131/2024 2/8
MURALI PURUSHOTHAMAN, J.
========================
W.P.(C) No.29131 of 2024
==================
Dated this the 05th day of September, 2024
ORDER
The petitioner retired from the service of the 2 nd
respondent- Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic
Garden and Research Institute (JNTBGRI) as
Director on 31.08.2016. The grievance of the
petitioner is that,even after 8 years after retirement,
the gratuity due to her is not disbursed.
2. The petitioner and similarly situated persons
had earlier approached this Court by filing W.P.(C)
No.24687 of 2017 and connected cases and this
Court, by Ext.P1 judgment dated 01.11.2018,
declared that the petitioners therein are entitled to
be paid full amount of gratuity due to them in
accordance with Rule 14 of Section II of Part I of the
KSCSTE Rules and Regulations, ie, with reference to
the number of years' service rendered by them
without any ceiling, within two months from the date
of receipt of a copy of the judgment, failing which
the amount shall carry interest @ 10% interest per
annum from the next day of the retirement of the
petitioners.
3. It is contended that despite the directions in
Ext.P1 judgment, the petitioner is not so far paid the
gratuity. According to her, she is entitled for an
amount of Rs.29,69,867/- towards gratuity.
4. In Ext.P3 communication issued by the 2 nd
respondent after nearly 5 years of her retirement, it
is stated that an amount of Rs.59,667/- is her liability
to JNTBGRI and only on remitting the said amount
the files can be processed and Non Liability
Certificate can be issued. In reply to Ext. P3 the
petitioner submitted Ext. P4 letter requesting the 2 nd
respondent to release her gratuity after deducting
the amount of Rs.59,667/- .
5. Ext.P5 communication is issued by the 3 rd
respondent, the Kerala Forest Research Institute,
where she was holding the charge of Director for a
short period, stating that the petitioner's name is
mentioned in Ext.P7 report of the Finance Inspection
report of the Government and the report does not
quantify the extent of the liability of the petitioner
and therefore, they are not in a position to report
the actual liability of the petitioner.
6. It is to be noted that, though Ext.P7 report of
the Finance Inspection (NT-H) Department is dated
14.10.2018, so far no steps have been taken to
quantify the extent of liability of the petitioner, if
any.
7. Rule 14.4 of Section II of Part I of the
KSCSTE Rules and Regulations provides that any
amount owed by a retired employee to the Council
shall be recovered from the gratuity of the
employee. The petitioner retired from service on
31.08.2016 and Ext.P7 report is dated 14.10.2018
and till this time, the petitioner is not informed
whether she has caused any pecuniary loss to the
respondents or what is the amount due from her to
the Council. Is it possible in law for the respondents
to proceed against her on the basis of Ext.P7 at this
distance of time?
8. It is trite that pension is not a bounty and is a
vested right of the person entitled to it. The gratuity
due to the petitioner has been withheld for the last
eight years. The respondents have not placed on
record any counter affidavit. Accordingly, as an
interim relief, there will be a direction to the
competent among the respondents to release an
amount of Rs.10,00,000/- (Rupees ten lakhs only)
from the gratuity due to the petitioner, within a
period of two months from the date of receipt of a
copy of this order. The payment as above will be
subject to further orders to be passed by this Court
and without prejudice to the right if any of the
respondents to proceed against the petitioner in a
civil court for recovering the pecuniary loss if any
caused by her to the respondents, in accordance
with law.
9. The respondents shall place on record
counter affidavits.
Post on 07.112024.
Sd/-
MURALI PURUSHOTHAMAN
JUDGE
SB
05-09-2024 /True Copy/ Assistant Registrar
Exhibit P1 A COPY OF THE JUDGMENT IN W.P.(C) NO. 24687 OF 2017
PASSED BY THIS HON'BLE COURT DATED 01.11.2018
Exhibit P3 A TRUE COPY OF THE LETTER NO. 03/ESTT1/2021/JNTBGRI
DATED 07.05.2021
Exhibit P4 A COPY OF THE LETTER OF THE PETITIONER TO 2ND
RESPONDENT DATED 19.05.2021
Exhibit P5 A TRUE COPY OF THE LETTER NO:
G113/KSCSTE/KFRI/ESTT/2003/FIN DATED 26.07.2021
Exhibit P7 A TRUE COPY OF THE RELEVANT PAGES OF INSPECTION REPORT
NO. 552/FIW-H1/2016/FIN DATED 14.10.2018
05-09-2024 /True Copy/ Assistant Registrar
