Ashok Kumar Mandal Vs The Bihar State Power Holding Company Limited — Patna HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

Ashok Kumar Mandal Vs The Bihar State Power Holding Company Limited — Patna HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Writ petition disposed of: all claimants to the retiral dues of deceased employee Ganesh Mandal were granted liberty to appear before the Managing Director, South Bihar Power Holding Company with supporting documents, and the Managing Director was directed to decide their entitlement expeditiously, in accordance with law and the Electricity Board's circulars.

Issue for consideration

Whether and how the retiral dues of the deceased employee Ganesh Mandal are to be paid, given competing claims by the petitioner (claiming to be the deceased's biological son through Bimla Devi) and respondent no. 7 (claiming to be the deceased's second wife), in the absence of any succession certificate on record.

Court's answer

Retiral dues under different heads must be distributed between the legal heirs of the deceased employee Ganesh Mandal, and all persons claiming themselves to be his legal heirs may appear before the Managing Director, South Bihar Power Holding Company with supporting documents in support of their respective claims.

Ratio / Principle

The Managing Director, South Bihar Power Holding Company is directed to pass an order on the basis of the documents produced by the respective parties claiming entitlement to retiral dues under different heads, along with the circulars of the Electricity Board, expeditiously and in accordance with law.

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Patna High Court (Purnendu Singh, J) disposed of a writ petition concerning retiral dues of Late Ganesh Mandal, a skilled labourer who died in harness on 16.05.2004 while serving at the Electricity Supply Sub-Division, Kahalgaon, Bhagalpur. The petitioner claimed to be the deceased's biological son (born of Bimla Devi), while respondent no. 7 claimed to be the deceased's second wife; neither party produced the succession certificate previously called for. Observing that the retiral dues under different heads must be distributed between the legal heirs of the deceased employee, the Court permitted all persons claiming to be legal heirs to appear before the Managing Director, South Bihar Power Holding Company with supporting documents, and directed the Managing Director to pass an order on such documents together with the Electricity Board's circulars expeditiously, in accordance with law. The petition stood disposed of accordingly.

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.15384 of 2023

======================================================

Ashok Kumar Mandal Son of Late Ganesh Mandal, Resident of Village and Post Office- Mamalakha, Police Station- Sabaur, District- Bhagalpur.

... ... Petitioner/s

Versus

1. The Bihar State Power Holding Company Limited through the Managing Director, Vidyut Bhawan, Jawaharlal Nehru Marg, Patna- 800001.

The Managing Director, Bihar State Power Holding Company Limited, Vidyut Bhawan, Jawaharlal Nehru Marg, Patna- 800001.

The South Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited, through its Managing Director, Vidyut Bhawan, Jawaharlal Nehru Marg, Patna- 800001.

The Managing Director, South Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited, Vidyut Bhawan, Jawaharlal Nehru Marg, Patna- 800001.

The General Manager-cum-Chief Electrical Engineer, Bhagalpur Electric Supply Area, Bhagalpur.

The Deputy General Manager-cum- Electrical Superintending Engineer, Bhagalpur Electric Supply Area, Bhagalpur.

Zeera Devi, Wife of Late Ganesh Mandal, Resident of Village and Post Office- Mamalakha, Police Station - Sabaur, District- Bhagalpur presently residing at Village- Mirzapur, Police Station- Ghogha, Kahalgaon, DistrictBhagalpur.

... ... Respondent/s ====================================================== Appearance : For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Kumar Kaushik, Advocate For the Respondents no. 1 to 6: Mr. Ajay Kumar, Advocate For the Respondent No. 7 : Mr. Mrityunjay Kumar, Advocate ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE PURNENDU SINGH ORAL ORDER

9 16-07-2026 Heard Mr. Kumar Kaushik, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner; Mr. Ajay Kumar, learned counsel for the respondents no. 1 to 6 and Mr. Mrityunjay Kumar, learned counsel for the private respondent no. 7.

The petitioner claims himself to be the biological son of deceased employee, namely, Late Ganesh Mandal, who

Patna High Court CWJC No.15384 of 2023(9) dt.16-07-2026 2/3

died in harness on 16.05.2004 while working as a skilled labourer at Electricity Supply Sub-Division, Kahalgaon, Bhagalpur, from his wife namely, Bimla Devi. The private respondent no. 7 claims herself to be the second wife of the deceased employee and each are claiming for the payment of retiral dues from the Electricity Board.

Both the parties were asked to file succession certificate but till date, they have not brought on record the same.

In such circumstances, retiral dues under different heads must be distributed between the legal heirs of the deceased employee, namely, Ganesh Mandal, as such, all the persons, who are claiming themselves to be the legal heirs of the deceased employee, namely, Ganesh Mandal, may appear before the Managing Director, South Bihar Power Holding Company along with the supporting documents in respect of their respective claim that they are entitled for reitral dues under different heads on account of death of the deceased employee.

The Managing Director, South Bihar Power Holding Company is directed to pass order on the basis of documents produced by respective parties claiming their entitlement for retiral dues under different heads and several

Patna High Court CWJC No.15384 of 2023(9) dt.16-07-2026 3/3

circulars of the Electricity Board expeditiously, in accordance

with law.

Accordingly, the present writ petition stands

disposed of.

(Purnendu Singh, J)

Niraj/-

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