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Judgment
ORDER
The present Original Application has been filed by the applicant for getting his retirement benefits from Municipal Corporation of Delhi.
The applicant worked as Architect Assistant in Town Planning Department of MCD. He retired from service on attaining the age of superannuation on 28.02.2021. That time, he was working in erstwhile East Municipal Corporation. On his retirement, he got his pension vide PPO No. 00317-GED which was issued to him on 24.03.2021. However, his other retirement benefits like gratuity, leave encashment, commutation etc were not released at the time of his retirement. The applicant submitted a representation dated 02.02.2022 followed by reminders on 28.02.2022, 08.08.2022 and 06.09.2022. But till the date of filing the OA, the applicant has not received any favourable response from the respondents. Being aggrieved, the applicant has filed the present OA seeking the following reliefs :-
“8(i) That the Hon’ble Tribunal may graciously be pleased to pass an order declaring to the effect the whole action of the respondents not releasing the retirement benefits of the applicant is totally illegal, arbitrary and discriminatory and consequently, pass an order directing the respondents to release all the retirement benefits of the applicant i.e. gratuity, leave encashment, commutation amount etc, with interest @ 12% from the date of retirement till the date of payment.
(ii)Any other relief which the Hon’ble Tribunal deem fit and proper may also be granted to the applicant along with the costs of litigation.”
Notice was issued to the respondents on 29.09.2022. Ms. Anupama Bansal, learned counsel appears on behalf of the respondents.
The applicant in his grounds in the OA as well as through the arguments by learned counsel for the applicant has stated that there was no departmental inquiry or criminal proceedings pending against the applicant. Therefore, there was no reason for not releasing the retirement benefits to the applicant immediately after his retirement. He cited various judgments like Sunil Kumar Mehra vs. East Delhi Municipal Corporation in OA No. 3584/2018 ; the judgment of the Hon’ble Apex Court in Vijay L. Mehrotra vs. State of U.P, JT 2000 (5) SC 171 ; Gorakhpur University & Ors. vs. Sheetla Parshed Nagendra & Ors. in 2001 (6) SCC 591 ; S. K. Dua vs. State of Haryana & Ors. in 2008 (3) Page-108 and OA No. 165/2022 in Ramesh Kumar vs. Commissioner (North DMC) & Ors.
In all these judgments/orders the applicants therein have been given the relief of retirement benefits to be paid within the stipulated period. The Hon’ble Supreme Court in Vijay L. Mehrotra (supra) and Gorakhpur University and Ors. (supra), have ordered payment of interest for delayed payment of retirement benefits to petitioners therein. Similarly, in OA No. 165/2022 (supra), this Tribunal has also ordered 12% interest on delayed payment of retirement benefits to the applicants therein. Again in O.A No. 3584/2018, this Tribunal also has ordered payment of interest at the GPF rates for the delayed payment of gratuity 30 days’ after the date of retirement.
Per Contra, learned counsel for the respondents relied upon the counter affidavit filed by them. She averred that in the counter affidavit the respondents have clearly stated that all retirement benefits have been paid to the applicant on various dates starting from February 2021 to July, 2021. In view of this, there was no inordinate delay in payment of retirement benefits to the applicant. She stated that the Municipal Corporation is facing acute shortage of funds and they are prioritizing payment of retirement benefits to the retirees as soon as possible. Moreover, as previously the MCD was trifurcated into three Municipal Corporations, some of the Municipal Corporations like the East Delhi Municipal Corporation were facing acute financial situation, because of the lack of adequate revenue resources. In view of this, few months delay in payment of the retirement benefits should be condoned keeping in view the financial constraint being faced by the MCD. The applicant should not be given the benefit of any interest for delayed payment of retirement benefits.
I have gone through the records and heard the arguments advanced by learned counsel for the parties carefully. In the instant case, it is admitted that the respondents have released the retirement benefits on various dates starting from 26.02.2021 to 05.07.2021. The details of payment are as follows :-
“That an amount of Rs.10,26,090/- towards Earned Leave Encashment on account of his retirement benefit has been paid to him vide Cheque No. 499163 dated 26.02.2021.
That an amount of Rs.23,90,511/- towards GPF Account No. CA-53372 on account of his retirement benefit has been paid to him on 13.04.2021.
That an amount of Rs.24,342/- towards GIS on account of his retirement benefit has been paid to him on 05.07.2021.
An amount of Rs.16,93,049/- towards Retirement Gratuity and Rs.17,24,674/- towards Commutation of Pension on account of his retirement benefit have been passed/sanctioned under Demand No. D-5 dt. 31.05.2021.”
The above mentioned payments to the applicant have not been controverted by the applicant. Hence, it is considered as admitted by the applicant. It is a fact that the erstwhile East Delhi Municipal Corporation was facing acute financial shortage of funds due to inadequate revenue resources. However, the amount payable to the applicant like GPF, CGEGIS and Leave Encashment are like private property under Article 300-A of the Constitution of India.
In view of this, respondents are directed to pay interest at the applicable GPF rates to the applicant for delayed payment of leave encashment, GPF and the amount related to CGEGIS. This exercise shall be done within a period of eight weeks from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order.
O.A stands disposed of accordingly with no order as to costs.