Sharma 14:48:4 vs The State Of Manipur Represented ...
2022 Latest Caselaw 197 Mani

                                                                                       Page |1
          Digitally
SHAMUR    signed by
          SHAMURAILA
AILATPA   TPAM SUSHIL                   IN THE HIGH COURT OF MANIPUR
M         SHARMA                                  AT IMPHAL
          Date:
SUSHIL    2022.05.11                            WP(C) No. 541 of 2021
SHARMA    14:48:40
          +05'30'
                        Shri Ngathem Sudhir Singh, aged about 61 years, son of late
                        Ng. Chaoba Singh, by occupation Principal, Higher
                        Secondary School, resident of Chingamathak Ngakraba
                        Leirak, Imphal West, PIN 795001, Manipur.

                                                                               ...Petitioner
                                                           -Versus-

                        1. The       State     of    Manipur       represented    by    the
                            Commissioner/Secretary (Education- S), Government of
                            Manipur, Imphal, Manipur Secretariat South Block,
                            Imphal, PIN-795001.

                        2. The           Commissioner/Secretary              (Education-S),
                            Government of Manipur, Manipur Secretariat North
                            Block, Imphal, PIN-795001.

                        3. The      Commissioner/Secretary           (DP),   Pension   Cell,
                            Government of Manipur, Imphal, Manipur Secretariat
                            South Block, Imphal, PIN- 795001.

                        4. The Principal Accountant General (A&E), Babupara,
                            Imphal, Manipur, PIN 795001.

                        5. The Director of Education (School), Government of
                            Manipur, Lamphelpat, Imphal, PIN-795004.

                                                                         .... Respondents.

WP(C) No. 541 of 2021 with WP(C) No. 1 of 2022 Page |2

WP(C) No. 1 of 2022

Shri Ngathem Sudhir Singh, aged about 61 years, son of late Ng. Chaoba Singh, by occupation ex-Principal, Higher Secondary School, resident of Chingamathak Ngakraba Leirak, Imphal West, PIN 795001, Manipur.

...Petitioner

-Versus-

1. The State of Manipur represented by the Commissioner/Secretary (Education- S), Government of Manipur, Imphal, Manipur Secretariat South Block, Imphal, PIN-795001.

2. The Commissioner/Secretary (Education-S), Government of Manipur, Manipur Secretariat North Block, Imphal, PIN-795001.

.... Respondents.

BEFORE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE M.V. MURALIDARAN

For the Petitioner :: Mr. Ng. Kumar, Advocate in both the writ petitions

For the Respondents :: Mrs. Ch. Sundari, GA for the respondents No. 1,2,3 and 5 in WP(C) No. 541 of 2021 and for the respondents No. 1 and 2 in WP(C) No. 1 of 2022.

Mr. S. Samarjeet, CGC for the respondent No. 4 in WP(C) No. 541 of 2021.

Date of Hearing and reserving Judgment & Order :: 11.04.2022

WP(C) No. 541 of 2021 with WP(C) No. 1 of 2022 Page |3

Date of Judgment & Order :: 11.05.2022

JUDGMENT AND ORDER (CAV)

W.P. (C) No.541 of 2021 has been filed by the

seeking a writ of mandamus directing the respondents to take

immediate necessary steps for payment of petitioner's pension

and other retiral benefits within a time frame and also to direct

the second respondent to immediately issue the retirement order

of the petitioner.

2. W.P.(C) No.1 of 2022 has been filed to direct the

respondents to give the petitioner interest at the rate of 18% per

annum on the amount of petitioner's retiral/terminal benefits,

including retirement gratuity for the period from the due date till

the date of actual payment and to quash the second sentence

appeared at paragraph 6 of the order dated 22.12.2021.

3. Since the issue involved in both the petitions is one

and the same, they were heard together and disposed of by this

common order.

4. Heard Mr. Ng. Kumar, learned counsel for the

petitioner; Mrs. Ch. Sundari, the learned Government Advocate

for the respondent State and Mr. I. Somorjit, learned junior

WP(C) No. 541 of 2021 with WP(C) No. 1 of 2022 Page |4

counsel to Mr. S. Samarjeet, learned Sr. PCCG for the

respondent Accountant General.

5. Mr. Ng. Kumar, the learned counsel for the

petitioner submitted that after filing of W.P.(C) No.541 of 2021,

on 22.12.2021, the Joint Secretary, Education (S), Government

of Manipur issued an order allowing the petitioner to retire from

service with effect from 28.2.2021 on attaining the age of

superannuation. Thus, the only prayer now pending

consideration in W.P.(C) No.541 of 2021 is payment of

petitioner's pensionary benefits and other retiral benefits.

6. Mr. H. Samarjit, the learned Government Advocate

for the respondent State also submitted that the retirement order

in respect of the petitioner was issued on 22.12.2021 with effect

from 28.2.2021 pursuant to the report of the Director of Education

(S), Manipur.

7. In view of the aforesaid submissions of learned

counsel for the parties, the prayer for issuance of the retirement

order was satisfied by issuance of the order dated 22.12.2021

allowing the petitioner to retire from service with effect from

28.2.2021.

WP(C) No. 541 of 2021 with WP(C) No. 1 of 2022 Page |5

8. Insofar as the prayer for payment of petitioner's

pensionary benefits and other retiral benefits, the learned

counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner did not

occupy any Government accommodation nor was there any

outstanding dues whatsoever against him and there is also no

departmental enquiry pending against him. However, the

respondents have not taken steps to settle the pension and other

retiral benefits till now quite arbitrarily. He would submit that

already more than a year elapsed from his date of retirement, but

not a single rupee of his monetary/retiral benefits like pension,

gratuity, leave encashment, GPF, Group Insurance etc. have

been given to the petitioner. The petitioner is the head and also

the only earning member of his family which consists of five

members and his monthly salary is the only source of income.

9. The learned counsel further submitted that the

petitioner has been compelled literally to become a beggar

running from pillar to post for borrowing money from his relatives

and friends for maintaining his family, especially during hard

times of Covid-19 pandemic and the petitioner is put to very

precarious condition.

WP(C) No. 541 of 2021 with WP(C) No. 1 of 2022 Page |6

10. The learned counsel urged that it is a matter of great

pity and disgrace that the petitioner after rendering service for

about 33 years as a teacher is compelled to live in penury. The

Hon'ble Apex Court time and again held that pension and gratuity

are no longer matters of any bounty to be distributed by

Government, but are valuable rights and property in their hands

and any delay in settlement and disbursement whereof should

be viewed seriously and dealt with severely by imposing penalty

in the form of interest. In this case, admittedly, there is a delay in

disbursement of pensionary and other monetary benefits and

therefore, this Court while directing the respondents to disburse

the entitled retirement benefits may order interest at the rate of

18% per annum for the delay.

11. Per contra, the learned counsel for the respondent

State submitted that though in the report dated 18.11.2021 the

Director of Education (S) stated that there is no disciplinary

proceedings taken against the petitioner and ordered that the

entitled retirement benefit shall be released as and when the

enquiry/charges, if any levelled against the petitioner has been

dropped, a response in this regard is yet to be received from the

authorities of the Council of Higher Secondary School and

therefore, there is no wilful intention of the respondent State for

WP(C) No. 541 of 2021 with WP(C) No. 1 of 2022 Page |7

non-releasing of pensionary benefits to the petitioner. He would

submit the respondent State will take necessary steps for

settlement/release of pension/retirement benefits as and when

the charges/enquiry, if any levelled against the petitioner has

been dropped.

12. Mr. Salam Samarjeet, learned senior PCGC for the

respondent Accountant General submitted that the

administrative authority and power vest with the State

Government authorities alone and the fourth respondent has no

power to implement the decisions that are not in consonance with

rules, regulations and Government instructions. He would submit

that only after the State Government issues a specific order in

compliance of the Court's order, either relaxing the

rules/instructions, the Principal Accountant General/Accountant

General can implement such decision/order. Therefore, the

primary responsibility in implementing a Court's order that

requires relaxation of rules rests with the State Government and

the fourth respondent only implements the decisions taken by the

State Government authorities in various issues relating to

maintenance of GPF, pension and gazetted entitlement. In fact,

the pension papers are yet to be received by the fourth

respondent under Rule 54(6) of the MCS (Pension) Rules, 1977.

WP(C) No. 541 of 2021 with WP(C) No. 1 of 2022 Page |8

As such, there is no action pending on the part of the fourth

respondent.

13. This Court considered the rival submissions and

also perused the materials available on record.

14. The petitioner was initially appointed as a Lecturer,

Higher Secondary School, Government of Manipur in the year

1988. After rendering service for about 30 years as Lecturer and

Vice Principal of Higher Secondary School, he was promoted to

the post of Principal, Higher Secondary School in the year 2018

and he was posted as Principal at Vungzagen Higher Secondary

School, Churachandpur District.

15. It appears that an enquiry committee was

constituted by the Government on 19.2.2020 thereby

recommending ten schools responsible for leakage of Class-XI

examination, 2020 question papers. The Vungzagen Higher

Secondary School was included in the said list, wherein the

petitioner was the Principal. Initially, the petitioner was not issued

with the retirement order, however, pending W.P.(C) No.541 of

2021, the Government issued an order dated 22.12.2021

allowing the petitioner to retire from service with effect from

28.2.2021 based on the report of the Director of Education (S).

WP(C) No. 541 of 2021 with WP(C) No. 1 of 2022 Page |9

16. The Director of Education(S), Manipur called for a

report that any disciplinary proceedings was pending against the

petitioner from the Council of Higher Secondary Education and

also requested them to do the needful of the additional

expenditure cost for such leakage from the officials of Vungzagen

Higher Secondary School. As such, the retirement order in

respect of the petitioner was not issued by the Government at the

relevant point of time.

17. On a perusal of affidavit-in-opposition, it is seen that

the Director of Education(S), Manipur submitted a report to the

Government on 18.11.2021, wherein it has been stated that there

is no disciplinary proceedings pending against the petitioner.

However, it has been ordered that the entitled retirement benefits

shall be released as and when the enquiry/charges, if any

levelled against the petitioner has been dropped. It is also stated

in the affidavit-in-opposition that on 18.1.2022, the Council of

Higher Secondary Education has been requested to submit the

status of enquiry/charges against the petitioner, if any. However,

no response has been received from the authorities of the

Council of Higher Secondary Education, Manipur.

WP(C) No. 541 of 2021 with WP(C) No. 1 of 2022 P a g e | 10

18. On a further perusal of the affidavit-in-opposition, it

has been stated that the State Government will take necessary

steps for settlement/releasing of pension/retirement benefits as

and when the charges/enquiry, if any levelled against the

petitioner has been dropped. It is also stated that pursuant to the

interim order dated 18.1.2022, the respondents are taking steps

for payment of provisional pension and provisional gratuity to the

petitioner.

19. At this juncture, it is apposite to mention that while

issuing the order for retirement dated 22.12.2021, the Joint

Secretary, Education(S) has stated as under:

"5. Whereas the Director of Education(S), Manipur has been requested to submit a report, if any disciplinary proceedings is pending against the retiring employee Shri.Ng.Sudhir Singh, Principal, Vungzagen Higher Secondary School. In response, Director of Education(S), Manipur vide letter No.5/12/2019- ED(AD/H)Pt dated 18.11.2021 has stated that there is no disciplinary proceedings taken against Shri Ng. Sudhir Singh (EIN-061892), Principal, Vungzagen Higher Secondary School."

20. When the Director of Education(S), Manipur himself

stated that there is no disciplinary proceedings taken against the

WP(C) No. 541 of 2021 with WP(C) No. 1 of 2022 P a g e | 11

petitioner, it is highly unreasonable on the part of the respondent

authorities to state that the entitled retirement benefits shall be

released as and when the enquiry/charges, if any levelled against

the petitioner.

21. As is seen from the pleadings, the petitioner

submitted repeated representations were made requesting the

respondent authorities to pay the entitled retirement benefits.

Since the respondent authorities failed to consider the claim of

the petitioner, he filed W.P.(C) No.541 of 2021 praying for

direction on the respondents to immediately take steps for

payment of his pension and other retiral benefits along with a

prayer for issuance of the retirement order. As stated supra,

pending W.P.(C) No.541 of 2021, retirement order was issued on

22.12.2021. Aggrieved by the impugned portion of the order

dated 22.12.2021, the petitioner has filed W.P.(C) No.1 of 2022,

wherein he prayed not only for setting aside the impugned portion

of the order, but also sought interest at the rate of 18% per annum

on the amount of the petitioner's retiral/terminal benefits etc.

22. Since the Director of Education(S), Manipur in his

report stated that there is no disciplinary proceedings taken

against the petitioner, retaining of the entitled retiral benefits due

WP(C) No. 541 of 2021 with WP(C) No. 1 of 2022 P a g e | 12

to the petitioner is unacceptable and the respondent authorities

are duty bound to release the entitled retiral/service benefits to

the petitioner.

23. The arguments of learned counsel for the petitioner

is that though rules provide for starting preparation of pension

papers for the petitioner two years prior to his due date of

retirement, nothing tangible has been done by the respondent till

date merit consideration.

24. The learned counsel for the petitioner also

submitted that pension and gratuity are no longer matters of any

bounty to be distributed by Government, but are valuable rights

and property in their hands and any delay in settlement and

disbursement whereof should be viewed seriously.

25. It is now trite that the pension and other retiral

benefits are no more a bounty to be distributed by the

Government. It has become a right in the hands of the

Government servants. If there is a culpable delay in making

availability of pension and other retiral benefits that itself would

invite heavy interest. In the present case, though no disciplinary

proceedings was initiated against the petitioner, the respondent

WP(C) No. 541 of 2021 with WP(C) No. 1 of 2022 P a g e | 13

authorities are in utter negligence in settling the retiral and

pensionary benefits to the petitioner.

26. It is pertinent to note that it is a matter of tragedy to

a retired person who is yet to get his legitimate pension and

gratuity after his retirement due to apathy and nonchalant attitude

of the respondent authorities. A retired Government employee

seems to be neglected and shabbily treated by the respondent

State who does not pay the retirement benefit in time and he is

compelled to run from pillar to post with a begging bowl. Despite

the interim order of this Court dated 18.1.2022, nothing on record

to show that the respondents released the provisional pension

and other retiral benefits due payable to the petitioner.

27. As stated supra, since there is no disciplinary

proceedings initiated against the petitioner as of now for the

alleged leakage of Class-XI examination 2020 question papers,

the Joint Secretary, Education(S), while issuing the order dated

22.12.2021 ought not to have stated that the entitled retirement

benefits shall be released as and when the enquiry/charges, if

any levelled against the petitioner. The aforesaid sentence

appeared in paragraph 6 of the order dated 22.12.2021 needs to

be set aside.

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28. In the facts and circumstances stated above, this is

a fit case to direct the respondents to finalise the pension paper

in respect of the petitioner within a time bound manner and if the

pension and other retiral benefits are not paid within the

stipulated time, it shall carry a reasonable

interest from the date of payment is due till the payment is made.

29. In the result,

(i) W.P.(C) No.541 of 2021 is partly allowed.

(ii) Since pending W.P.(C) No.541 of 2021 the

petitioner was allowed to retire from service

vide order dated 22.12.2021, the prayer for

issuance of the retirement order has become

infructuous.

(iii) W.P.(C) No.1 of 2022 is allowed

(iv) The second sentence appeared in paragraph

6 of the impugned order dated 22.12.2021 of

the Joint Secretary(S), Government of

Manipur is set aside.

(v) The respondent authorities are directed to

finalise the pension paper of the petitioner

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within a period of four weeks from the date of

receipt of a copy of this order.

(vi) If the pension and other retiral benefits are

not paid within the stipulated period of four

weeks, it shall carry an interest at the rate of

9% per annum from the date of payment is

due till the payment is made.

(vii) No costs.

JUDGE

FR/NFR

Sushil

WP(C) No. 541 of 2021 with WP(C) No. 1 of 2022