Munni Devi vs State Of Uttarakhand & Ors.

Hon’ble Pankaj Purohit, J. (Oral)

Petitioner has sought a writ of mandamus commanding the respondents to re-calculate the gratuity payable to her in respect of her husband, late Trilochan Bhatt, by counting his entire continuous service from the initial date of his engagement, i.e. 15.11.1983, till the date of his death, in the same manner as has been done in the case of other similarly situated retired employees, and to pay the resultant balance amount to the petitioner.

It is the case of the petitioner that her husband was working in the respondent-department as a daily-wage labourer since 15.11.1983. After rendering continuous and uninterrupted service for a period of 38 years, he died on 13.11.2025. The husband of the petitioner was regularized on 23.03.2021, however, petitioner was paid gratuity in respect of her husband only for the regular service rendered by him after his regularization. By means of the present writ petition, petitioner seeks payment of gratuity for the service rendered by her husband from the date of his initial engagement.

It is contended by learned counsel for the petitioner that similarly situated persons have been paid gratuity from the date of their initial appointment, irrespective of whether they were engaged as daily-wage employees or were in regular service.

Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner had moved a representation before respondent no.4, Divisional Forest Officer, Forest Division, Almora, on 27.05.2026, which is annexed as annexure no.7 to the writ petition, however, no order has been passed on the said representation.

Learned State Counsel submits that the representation submitted by petitioner is defective, as, in the said representation, she has claimed gratuity in respect of her husband, but it has not been clarified that the gratuity for the period from the date of initial appointment of her husband till the date of his regularization has been claimed.

In view of the aforesaid, the writ petition is finally disposed of with liberty to the petitioner to make a fresh representation before respondent no.4-Divisional Forest Officer, Forest Division, Almora within a period of two weeks from today. In case such representation is submitted by petitioner seeking payment of gratuity in respect of her husband for the period from the date of his initial appointment till the date of his regularization, the same shall be considered and decided by respondent no. 4 by a speaking and reasoned order within a period of two months thereafter.

Pending application, if any, stands disposed of accordingly.