Petitioner, a retired Agriculture Officer convicted in a corruption case with a pending appeal, sought provisionat gratuity. Court held Rule 64(1)(c) inapplicable; directed 50% gratuity payment with interest despite pending criminal proceedings.
Directed grant of 50% gratuity with simple interest @ 8% p.a. from date of retirement within one month.
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AFR
HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH, BILASPUR
Writ Petition (S) No.5471 of 2020
B.B. Verma, S/o Shri Maniram Verma, aged about 64 years, R/o Behind Lafagarh Gas Agency, Shivam Vihar, Bilaspur, District Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh
----- Petitioner
Hon'ble Shri Justice Arvind Singh Chandel
Order on Board
14.12.2023
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before this Court.
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against final retirement benefit sanctioned to him later on. Therefore, it is prayed by the Learned Counsel that the Respondents may be directed accordingly.
(4) In the case of a Government servant who has retired on attaining the age of superannuation or otherwise and against
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whom any departmental or judicial proceedings are instituted or where departmental proceedings are continued under subrule (2), a provisional pension and death-cum-retirement gratuity as provided in Rule 64, as the case may be, shall be sanctioned;
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64 . Provisional pension where departmental or judicial proceeding may be pending.— (1) (a) In respect of Government servants refer to in sub-rule (4) of Rule 9 the Head of Office shall authorise the payment of provisional pension not exceeding the maximum pension and 50% of gratuity taking into consideration the gravity of charges levelled against such Government servant, which would have been admissible on the basis of qualifying service up to the date of retirement of the Government servant or if he was under suspension on the date of retirement, up to the date immediately preceding the date on which he was placed under suspension.
(b) The provisional pension shall be drawn on establishment pay bill and paid to retired Government servant by the Head of Office during the period commencing from the date of retirement to the date on which upon conclusion of departmental or judicial proceedings, final orders are passed by the competent authority.
(c) Provisional gratuity shall be drawn on establishment pay bill and paid to retired Government servant by the Head of Office after adjusting dues mentioned in sub-rule (2) of Rule 60, under intimation to Audit Office. Payment of provisional pension/gratuity made under sub-rule (1) shall be adjusted against final retirement benefit sanctioned to such Government servant upon conclusion of such proceedings, but no recovery shall be made where the pension/gratuity finally sanctioned is less than the provisional pension/gratuity or the pension/gratuity is reduced or withheld either permanently or for a specified period.”
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of sub-rule (4) of Rule 9 and sub-rule (1)(a) of Rule 64 reveals that where judicial/departmental proceeding is pending the employee shall be entitled to get 50% of his gratuity. Thus, in the light of above discussion, this Court arrives at the conclusion that the Petitioner is entitled to get 50% of his gratuity and it is further observed that Rule 64(1)(c) is not applicable to the case of the Petitioner. Accordingly, the Respondents are directed to grant 50% of his gratuity to the Petitioner within one month from the receipt of this order along with simple interest @ 8% per annum from the date of his retirement, i.e., 31.8.2018 till final payment of 50% of his gratuity.
Sd/Arvind Singh Chandel ) JUDGE
Gopal
2 issues framed by the court
Whether a retired government servant is entitled to receive provisional gratuity while a criminal appeal is pending against his conviction.
Whether Rule 64(1)(c) of the Chhattisgarh Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1976 applies to bar gratuity payment when judicial proceedings are pending.
2 provisions across 1 enactments
B.B. Verma
State of Chhattisgarh
Joint Director, Agriculture (Establishment)
Deputy Director, Agriculture
Sub Divisional Agriculture Officer
Arvind Singh Chandel
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
