Allowed

P.K. Prakash v. Deputy Director of Higher Education Kottayam

Kerala HC7 Sept 2020WP(C)/15753/2020

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

The HighCourt at Kerala allowed a writ petition seeking subsistence allowance paid months for a suspended labour assistant. The court directed respondents to submit the bill within one month subject to a single valid non-employment certificate.

What did the court decide?

Directing respondents to submit the bill for subsistence allowance for January 2019 till date within one month upon submission of one valid non-employment certificate, ensuring payment thereafter with

P.K. Prakash Vs Deputy Director of Higher… — Pension and Retirement Benefits | Kerala HC (2020)

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM

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PRESENT

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THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DEVAN RAMACHANDRAN

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MONDAY, THE 07TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER 2020 / 16TH BHADRA, 1942

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WP(C).No.15753 OF 2020(T)

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PETITIONER:

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P.K. PRAKASH S/O.PRABHAKARAN, LAB ASSISTANT, S.N.COLLEGE CHENGANNOOR (NOW UNDER SUSPENSION), KALLASSERIL, AKAMKUDI.P.O., NANGIYARKULANGARA, ALAPAPUZHA-690513.

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BY ADVS. SRI.R.SUNIL KUMAR SMT.A.SALINI LAL

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RESPONDENTS:

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1 DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF HIGHER EDUCATION KOTTAYAM, VAYASSERIKUNNU, PALACE ROAD, KOTTAYAM-686001.

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2 MANAGER, SN TRUSTS, CANTONMENT, NEAR CANTONMENT SOUTH, MUNDAKKAL VILLAGE, KOLLAM-691001.

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3 PRINCIPAL, SREE NARAYANA COLLEGE CHENGANNOOR, CHENGANNOOR.P.O., ALAPPUZHA-689121.

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R2 & R3 BY ADV. SRI.A.N.RAJAN BABU

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THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 07.09.2020, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:

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WP(C).No.15753 OF 2020 2

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JUDGMENT

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The petitioner complains that even though

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he has been placed under suspension by the 2^nd respondent, he has not been paid the eligible subsistence allowance from December 2018, until now. He thus prays that respondents 2 and 3 be directed to pay him the said amounts at the earliest.

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In response to the submissions made

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on behalf of the petitioner by his learned counsel Shri.R.Sunil Kumar, the learned Standing Counsel for respondents 2 and 3, Shri.R.Rajan Babu, submitted that there is no legal impediment in presenting the bills for subsistence allowance before the competent

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Authority, but that the petitioner must produce a certificate of non-employment for each month during this period. He says that if

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the petitioner does so, the amount of subsistence allowance will be released to him at the earliest.

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Smt.Nisha Bose, learned Senior

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WP(C).No.15753 OF 2020 3

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Government Pleader, appearing on behalf of the

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1^st respondent - Deputy Director of Higher Education, submitted that going by Chapter VII Rule 55 Note 3 of the Kerala Service Rules, every bill must be supported by a certificate of non-employment to be signed by a Gazetted Officer. She says that, therefore, if the 2^nd and 3^rd respondents now present a bill for the period from January 2019 till date, on the strength of one certificate, the same can be processed as per law. She then added to these submissions by saying that the 2^nd and 3^rd respondents have only presented the bills for November 2018 and December 2018, out of which the former has already been paid to the petitioner.

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Smt.Nisha Bose then submitted that

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the bill for November 2018, was presented only on 26/06/2020, but that since there were some defects in the same, it was subsequently

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rectified and that it has already been countersigned by the competent Authority. She

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WP(C).No.15753 OF 2020 4

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says, therefore, that no further reliefs can

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be sought by the petitioner against the 1^st respondent.

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When I consider the afore

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submissions, it is without doubt that the

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delay in payment of the subsistence allowance

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is partly on account of the fact that the

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bills have not been submitted by respondents 2 and 3 in time. Their insistence that the petitioner must produce a certificate of nonemployment for every month does not appear to

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be in tune either with the statutory

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prescriptions or with the submissions now made

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on behalf of the 1^st respondent. It is

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obvious, going by the submissions of Smt.Nisha Bose, learned Senior Government Pleader, that the entire payment from the period January 2019, till date can be supported by one certificate of non-employment to be submitted by the petitioner under the provisions of

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Chapter VII Rule 55 Note 3 of the Kerala

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Service Rules.

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WP(C).No.15753 OF 2020 5

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In the afore circumstances, I order this

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writ petition and direct respondents 2 and 3 to ensure that the entire bill for subsistence allowance payable to the petitioner for the period January 2019 till date is submitted within a period of one month from the date of receipt of a copy of this judgment, on the petitioner producing one certificate of nonemployment for this period, which is validly signed by the competent Gazetted Officer under the provisions of the Kerala Service Rules.

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Needless to say, once the bills are presented by the 2 and 3^rd respondents before the 1^st respondent, all action shall be taken to ensure that the payments are released to him without any delay thereafter.

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Sd/-

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DEVAN RAMACHANDRAN

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JUDGE

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MC/7.9.2020

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WP(C).No.15753 OF 2020 6

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APPENDIX

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PETITIONER'S/S EXHIBITS:

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EXHIBIT P1	TRUE COPY OF THE 18.9.18.	SUSPENSION ORDER DATED
EXHIBIT P2	TRUE COPY OF THE SUBMITTED BY THE 11.10.2018.	NON-EMPLOYMENT CERTIFICATE PETITIONER DATED
EXHIBIT P3	TRUE COPY OF THE CERTIFICATE DATED	NON - EMPLOYMENT 31.1.2019.
EXHIBIT P4	TRUE COPY OF THE	LETTER DATED 15.7.2019.
EXHIBIT P5	TRUE COPY OF THE THE PETITIONER TO DATED 3.10.2019.	APPLICATION SUBMITTED BY THE SECOND RESPONDENT
EXHIBIT P6	TRUE COPY OF THE CERTIFICATE SUBMI DATED 25.10.2019.	NON - EMPLOYMENT TTED BY THE PETITIONER
EXHIBIT P7	TRUE COPY OF THE 23.4.2020.	REPRESENTATION DATED
EXHIBIT P8	TRUE COPY OF THE CERTIFICATE DATED	NON - EMPLOYMENT 25.5.2020.
EXHIBIT P9 RESPONDENT'S/S E	TRUE COPY OF THE SEND ON 25.7.2020 XHIBITS:	NON-EMPLOYMENT CERTIFICATE .
NIL
MC
	(TRUE COPY)	PA TO JUDGE

P.K. Prakash v. Deputy Director of Higher Education Kottayam

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

P.K. Prakash v. Deputy Director of Higher Education Kottayam

Case brief

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What did the court decide?

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