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Judgment
P. B. Majmudar, J.—The petitioner who is the retired teacher has filed this petition for necessary direction against respondent No. 3 to disburse the gratuity amount with 18% interest. It is also prayed that his pension amount be fixed from December, 2001 with 18% interest. The petitioner also prays for interest on GPF.
It is pointed out to the Court, that during the pendency of the petition, the amount of commuted pension has already been paid to the petitioner and now his pension is fixed and he is getting pension regularly. The amount of gratuity is also paid. The learned Counsel for the petitioner Mr. Pangam, therefore, prays that the only question which now arises is in respect of the interest to be paid on delayed payment of pension, gratuity and commutation of pension. The Counsel for the petitioner has, therefore, argued that for delayed payment of pension, gratuity and commutation of pension, Department be directed to pay suitable interest to the petitioner.
The petitioner has retired by taking benefit of Voluntary Retirement Scheme on 30/11/2001. Since his retirement dues were not paid, he approached this Court by way of this petition and, as pointed out earlier, the provident fund and gratuity amount has all been paid to the petitioner. The only question which requires to be considered is whether any direction can be given to respondent No. 3 for payment of interest, to the petitioner on the delayed payment.
The petitioner was initially appointed in St. Aloysius High School, Cuncolim, as Assistant Teacher in the year 1971.Subsequently, in January, 1995, the petitioner was absorbed in the respondents No. 3 School in view of the closure of the earlier school i.e. St. Aloysius High School. The petitioner submitted his application for getting benefit under Voluntary Retirement Scheme. He was allowed to retire under the scheme on 30/11/2001. The petitioner after his retirement entered into various correspondence with respondent No. 3 School in connection with fixation of his provident fund, gratuity, etc.
During the course of hearing, it is brought to our notice that the earlier School i.e. St. Aloysius High School, where the petitioner was initially appointed, came to be closed down and relevant records continued to remain with the said school and the service book of the petitioner was not completed. The said service book could be completed only after tracing the Manager of the earlier school. The learned Counsel for respondent No. 3 School, Mr. Bhobe, submitted that since the service book of the petitioner was not complete and since the necessary papers were not sent by the earlier school, which was closed at the relevant time, the petitioner ultimately on 9/07/2003, submitted necessary documents to the respondent No. 3 School and respondent No. 3 School completed the procedure and, thereafter, the papers were forwarded to the State Government and the State Government ultimately paid the amount on 23/09/2003. It is submitted that necessary formalities were completed after submitting necessary papers and within short period the payment was made and, therefore, there is no willful delay on the part of either the School or on the part of the State Government. In this behalf, affidavit has also been filed by respondent No. 3 School pointing out the said aspect and the State also filed affidavit explaining the aforesaid so called delay in finalising the issue.
Learned Counsel for the petitioner, however has relied upon Rule 58 from Swamy''s CCS (Pension) Rules which provides that; Every Head of Officer shall undertake the work of preparation of pension papers in Form 7 two years before the date on which a Government servant is due to retire on superannuation, or on the date on which he proceeds on leave preparatory to retirement, whichever is earlier.
Learned Counsel for the petitioner vehemently submitted that it was the duty of respondent No. 3 School to undertake the exercise of preparation of pension papers two years before the date of his superannuation. In this behalf, it is required to be noted that the petitioner has taken voluntary retirement under the Voluntary Retirement Scheme. Therefore, he took retirement earlier than the actual superannuation date. Apart from the aforesaid aspect, it is not in dispute that necessary service record etc., was initially lying with the earlier School, which was not functioning and even the Head of the School was not available. Under these circumstances, after necessary documents were received by respondent No. 3 School, there was hardly any delay, much less, any willful delay, on the part of the Management or the State Government in finalising the pension papers of the petitioner. The Court can direct the State Government to pay appropriate interest for such delay in payment.
Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, in our view, it cannot be said that there was any willful delay on the part of respondent No. 3 School or on the part of the State Government in the matter of releasing pension and other retire mental dues of the petitioner. We, accordingly, do not find any substance in the say of the learned advocate of the petitioner that respondent No. 3 School and the State Government should be directed to pay interest for the delayed payment of retire mental dues. We do not find any substance in the petition. Hence, the petition is rejected.