The Court held that Rules 11 and 41 of CCS (CCA/Pension) Rules do not apply to a government servant discharged voluntarily. The impugned order rejecting the pension claim was set aside for not considering relevant aspects, with a direction to reconsider.
Ext.P3 order quashed; direction to reconsider matter within three months with notice to the petitioner.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
INTHEHIGHCOURTOFKERALAATERNAKULAM
PRESENT
THEHONOURABLEMR.JUSTICERAJAVIJAYARAGHAVANV
WEDNESDAY,THE1STDAYOFNOVEMBER2023/10THKARTHIKA,1945
WP(C)NO.16275OF2020
PETITIONER:-
SURESHKUMARP.K,AGED52YEARS
S/O.SHRI.NEELAKANTANKUNJAN,PARAKKULATHUHOUSE,
PINAVOORKUDY,URULANTHANNYP.O.,KUTTAMPUZHA,
ERNAKULAM-686681CONSTABLE/GD
(DISCHARGEDFROMSERVICE),51BN,JAMMUANDKASHMIR,
UNDERTHECENTRALRESERVEPOLICEFORCE,
MINISTRYOFHOMEAFFAIRS,DELHI-110011.
BYADVS.
KALEESWARAMRAJ
SRI.VARUNC.VIJAY
KUM.A.ARUNA
KUM.THULASIK.RAJ
SMT.MAITREYISACHIDANANDAHEGDE
RESPONDENTS :-
1 UNION OF INDIA REPRESENTED BY ITS SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS, NORTH BLOCK, NEW DELHI, DELHI-110 011.
2DIRECTORATEGENERAL
CENTRALRESERVEPOLICEFORCE,BLOCKNO.1,
CGOCOMPLEX,LODHIROAD,NEWDELHI-110003.
BYADVS.
SRI.P.VIJAYAKUMAR
MANUS.,ASGOFINDIA
THISWRITPETITION(CIVIL)HAVINGCOMEUPFORADMISSIONON
01.11.2023,THECOURTONTHESAMEDAYDELIVEREDTHEFOLLOWING:
WP(C)NO.16275OF2020
2
JUDGMENT
The petitioner states that he is a retired Constable/GD serving in the Central Reserve Police Force. He was enlisted in the service on 28.11.1986. While so, he had to attend to his ailing mother, for which he filed an application to discharge himself from the service. The petitioner states that on the ground that he has discharged himself, he has been denied the pension. In the said circumstances, the petitioner has submitted Ext.P2 request, requesting the respondent to grant him a pension.
WP(C)NO.16275OF2020
3
from service treated as voluntary retirement for the purpose of pension;
(iii) To issue a writ of mandamus directing the 1st and 2nd respondents to pass orders granting pension and all other pensionary benefits to the petitioner by cancelling Ext.P3 order and to disburse the arrears to him.
(iv) In the alternative, to issue a writ of mandamus directing the 1st and 2nd respondents to pass orders granting compassionate allowance to the petitioner by cancelling Ext.P3 order and to disburse the arrears to him.
3. A statement has been filed by the respondents controverting
the contentions. After detailing the facts and circumstances, various assertions have been made in the statement.
“On the subject matter, it is informed you that under the provision contained in Rule 11 of CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965, read with Rule 41 of CCS (Pension) Rules 1972, a Govt. servant who is discharged from service shall forfeit his past service and shall not be entitled to pension and other pensionary benefits.”
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4
only in case of a person who is either dismissed or removed from service. Ext.P1 certificate of service would disclose that the petitioner was discharged and that, too, based on the request submitted by him. In that view of the matter, there appears to be considerable force in the submission of the learned counsel that the rejection of the application was without proper application of mind.
(5) Regulation of claims to pension or family pension
(1) Any claim to pension or family pension shall be regulated by the provisions of these rules in force at the time when a Government servant retires or is retired or is discharged or is allowed to resign from service or dies, as the case may be.
(2) The day on which a Government servant retires or is retired or is discharged or is allowed to resign from service, as the case may be, shall be treated as his last working day. The date of death shall also be treated as a working day.
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5
adverted to by the concerned respondent while issuing Ext.P3 order. Ext.P3 order is liable to be quashed and necessary directions can be issued to the competent among the respondents to reconsider the entire issue with notice to the petitioner.
In view of the discussion above Ext.P3 is quashed. There will be a direction to the competent among the respondents to reconsider the matter with notice to the petitioner and pass fresh orders as per procedure and in accordance with law, within a period of three months from the date of receipt of a copy of this judgment.
This Writ Petition is disposed of.
Sd/-
RAJA VIJAYARAGHAVAN V JUDGE
SMA
WP(C)NO.16275OF2020
6
APPENDIX OF WP(C) 16275/2020
PETITIONER EXHIBITS :-
EXHIBITP1TRUECOPYOFTHECERTIFICATEOFSERVICE
ISSUEDBYTHEDEPUTYINSPECTORGENERALOF
POLICEGROUPCENTRE,CRPF,PALLIPPURAM.
EXHIBITP2TRUECOPYOFTHELETTERDATED13.8.2019
SUBMITTEDBYTHEPETITIONER.
EXHIBITP3TRUECOPYOFTHEREPLY
NO.W-V-49/2019-WEL-II(GR-4)DATED4.5.2019
ISSUEDBYTHE2NDRESPONDENT.
3 issues framed by the court
Whether Rule 11 of CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965 and Rule 41 of CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972 apply to a government servant discharged from service on his own request.
Whether the rejection of a pension claim was based on a proper application of mind.
Whether an order rejecting a discharge application should be quashed when it cited rules not applicable to voluntary discharge.
Colour shows how this judgement treated each authority
Not citedReferred
3 provisions across 2 enactments
Suresh Kumar P. K.
Union of India represented by its Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs
Directorate General Central Reserve Police Force
Raja Vijayaraghavan V V
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court