Patna High Court
Renu Kumari vs The State Of Bihar on 18 September, 2023
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.11556 of 2023
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Renu Kumari Wife of Shri Raghwendra Sharan Karn, resident of Village -
Janipur, Police Station - Nanpur, District - Sitamarhi.
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
1. The State of Bihar through the Additional Chief Secretary, Education
Department, Govt. of Bihar, Patna.
2. The Director, Primary Education, Education Department, Government of
Bihar, Patna.
3. The District Education Officer, Sitamarhi.
4. The District Programme Officer, (Establishment), Sitamarhi.
5. The Treasury Officer, Sitamarhi.
6. The Accountant General, Bihar, Patna.
7. The Senior Account Officer, Office of the Accountant General, Bihar, Patna.
... ... Respondent/s
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Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr.Ram Sagar Singh
For the Respondent/s : Mr.Jitendra Kr. Roy 1 (Sc13)
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CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE PURNENDU SINGH
ORAL JUDGMENT
Date : 18-09-2023
Heard Mr. Ram Sagar Singh, learned counsel
appearing on behalf of the petitioner; Mr. Jitendra Kumar Roy 1,
learned SC-13 appearing on behalf of the respondent and Mr.
Ram Yash Singh, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the
Accountant General.
2. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the
petitioner seeks to file a detailed representation in light of the
judgment passed in CWJC No. 2783 of 2021 in case of
Chandrakant and others which was heard along with other
Patna High Court CWJC No.11556 of 2023 dt.18-09-2023
analogous cases in which final judgment has been passed on
23.09.2022 as contained in Annexure-7.
3. Considering the specific submission made on
behalf of the petitioner, the petitioner may file a detailed
representation with regard to relief prayed for in the present writ
petition before the District Programme Officer, Sitamarhi.
4. The District Programme Officer, Sitamarhi is
directed to ensure to make payment of retiral dues in accordance
with law and return back the amount which has been recovered
amounting to Rs. 7,36,371/- from the petitioner has not
misrepresented or misappropriated in light of the judgment
passed by the Apex Court in case of Thomas Daniel v. State of
Kerala, 2022 SCC OnLine SC 536, the relevant paragraph is
reproduced hereinbelow:
"9. This Court in a catena of
decisions has consistently held that if the
excess amount was not paid on account of
any misrepresentation or fraud of the
employee or if such excess payment was
made by the employer by applying a wrong
principle for calculating the pay/allowance
or on the basis of a particular interpretation
of rule/order which is subsequently found to
be erroneous, such excess payment of
emoluments or allowances are not
recoverable. This relief against the recovery
is granted not because of any right of the
employees but in equity, exercising judicial
discretion to provide relief to the employees
from the hardship that will be caused if the
Patna High Court CWJC No.11556 of 2023 dt.18-09-2023
recovery is ordered. This Court has further
held that if in a given case, it is proved that
an employee had knowledge that the
payment received was in excess of what was
due or wrongly paid, or in cases where error
is detected or corrected within a short time
of wrong payment, the matter being in the
realm of judicial discretion, the courts may
on the facts and circumstances of any
particular case order for recovery of amount
paid in excess."
5. The above exercise is directed to be concluded
within a period of four weeks from the date of communication
of this order.
6. With the above observations and directions, the
present writ petition stands disposed of.
(Purnendu Singh, J)
minu/-
AFR/NAFR NAFR
CAV DATE NA
Uploading Date 22.09.2023
Transmission Date
