Uttarakhand High Court
WPMS/1176/2011 on 5 October, 2023
Office Notes,
reports, orders
SL. or proceedings or
Date COURT'S OR JUDGES'S ORDERS
No directions and
Registrar's order
with Signatures
WPMS No1176 of 2011
Hon'ble Sharad Kumar Sharma, J.
Mr. Siddhartha Sah, learned counsel for the
petitioner.
Brief facts of the case are, that respondent
no.3, had agitated his claim, for the grant of
gratuity, on the basis of the revised pay-scale,
and the proceedings in that regard was instituted
by him under the Payment of Gratuity Act on
27.05.2007.
His contention was that since the
Government has revised the pay-scale and the
same has been determined to be made payable
@Rs.26,423/- he contended that he will be
entitled for payment of gratuity, as per Section 4
of the Payment of Gratuity Act, on the basis of
the said revised scale till the date of attaining the
age of his retirement i.e.31.08.2002.
The contention of the petitioner was that
during the pendency of the proceedings before
respondent no.3, the petitioner has been paid the
amount of Rs.1,11,972/- towards the additional
gratuity vide cheque, being Cheque No.000047
from the accounts standing at Syndicate Bank.
The petitioner has submitted that they have
already paid the said amount and hence, the
request of interest to be paid on the same would
not be tenable and hence on the said issue the
matter travelled to the authorities i.e. respondent
no.2 herein.
It was that vide application, thus preferred
by the petitioner on 06.05.2008, before
respondent no.2, where the proceedings was
being agitated, the petitioner has made aware,
the Court, that he has already remitted an
amount of Rs.1,11,972/- as payable on the
revised pay-scale and it also requested that the
interest would not be payable on the same.
Respondent no.2 has allowed the claim
proceedings by order dated 22.06.2010 and the
interest @9% per annum, on the balance gratuity
amount was directed to be made payable for the
period w.e.f. April 2006 to 29.03.2008, as per the
provisions contained under Section 3A to be dead
with Section 7 of the Payment of Gratuity Act.
The matter was taken in appeal by
respondent no.1 and respondent no.1 while
scrutinizing the order which was passed by the
controlling authority has observed, that the whole
issue, which was involved for consideration, was
limited with regards to the non-payment of
interest on the plea of condition of profitability, in
accordance with the Payments of Gratuity Act,
1972, which is statutory in nature. Consequently,
the appellate authority has modified the decision
taken by the controlling authority by awarding
the simple interest @ 10% per annum on the
balance amount of Rs.1,11,972/-.
It is this judgment, which has been put to
challenge by the petitioner in the present writ-
petition, whereby the following direction has been
issued by the appellate authority:-
"After careful examination the decision of
controlling authority I am of the considered opinion
that learned controlling authority has committed on
error of judgment on the whole issue regarding non
payment of interest on the plea of condition of
profitability. The payment of gratuity under
Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 is statutory liability
of the employer and can not be diluted by any
administrative instruction. Accordingly I modify the
decision of learned controlling authority by
awarding simple interest @ 10 % per annum on the
balance amount of Rs. 1,11,972/- (Rupees One
Lakh Eleven thousand Nine Hundred Seventy Two
only) from 17.06 2004 to 29.03.2008.
Given under my hand and seal this 23rd day
of March 2011 and parties informed accordingly"
During the pendency of the writ-petition,
initially the respondent was represented by Mr.
Pratiroop Pandey, the learned counsel for the
respondent, but no counter affidavit has been
filed to the writ-petition. But, owing to the fact,
that practice of Mr. Pratiroop Pandey has
switched over to the State side and hence none
appears for respondent no.3.
As such, the notice was issued to
respondent no.3 on 07.08.2023, which was
served upon him. As a consequence of the service
of notice upon him, he has made a
communication to the Deputy Registrar
(Judicial), High Court of Uttarakhand on
14.08.2023 with a copy served to the Chairman
and Managing Director, Central Electronics
Limited, wherein he has submitted that, owing to
his earlier communication made by him and
forwarded by the Private Secretary to the Minister
for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences,
Govt. of India vide its DO No.4646
PS/M(S&T&ES)2015 to the Director General,
Counsel Scientific and Industrial Research for
withdrawal of the writ-petition because on the
balance, the relevant communication is extracted
herein:-
"To
The Chairman & Managing Director
Central Electronics Ltd.
4, Industrial Area
Sahibabad, Ghaziabad (UP)
Sub: Writ Petition No.1176 of 2011 (M/S)
Respected Sir,
The above Writ Petition is pending in Hon'ble High
Court of Uttarakhand at Nainital. The High Court
has fixed the date of hearing of this Writ Petition on
28/08/2023. I had submitted an application dated
12/05/2015 to Ministry of Science and Technology
for withdrawal of this Writ Petition (copy enclosed),
the same was forwarded by Private Secretary of
the Minister vide his DO letter No. 4646 PSM (S&T
& ES/2015) (copy enclosed) to The Director General
Council of Scientific & Industrial Research, but it
appears that my application has not reached to
your good offices from office of the Director General
Council of Scientific & Industrial Research.
Moreover, it is further stated that I am not
interested to claim any interest as awarded by
Regional Labour Commissioner (Central) Dehradun
vide his order dated 23 March 2011.
In view of the above, I request your goodself to
kindly take the necessary proceedings to withdraw
the said Writ Petition filed by Central Electronics
Ltd., Pardon me.
Thanking you,
Yours sincerely,
(R.A. AGARWAL)
Asstt. General Manager (Retd)
Code No. 10843
copy to: The Deputy Registrar (J),High Court of
Uttarakhand, Nainital - for information &
necessary proceedings in this matter, please.
with reference to his notice dt. 14.08.2023"
For the reason being, that it is not on record
by way of an affidavit, but it has been referred to
the Deputy Registrar by a correspondence made
by him, owing to the statement made by the
respondent, that he is not interested to claim any
interest on the award amount made by the
Regional Labour Commissioner (Central),
Dehradun vide his order dated 23.03.2011.
Based on the said communication, the writ-
petition would stand allowed. The appellate order
dated 23.03.2011, so far as, it relates to the
enhancement of the interest on the amount
payable @10%, would hereby stand quashed.
The writ-petition would stand allowed, in
terms of the correspondence made by the private
respondent on 24.08.2023. The same is taken on
record.
(Sharad Kumar Sharma, J.)
05.10.2023
Sukhbant
