High Court
Case Details
WP(C) 5186/2008 BEFORE THE HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE UJJAL BHUYAN JUDGMENT AND ORDER (Oral)
Legal Reasoning
(Ujjal Bhuyan,J.) Heard Mr. P.D. Nair, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. B. J. Gh 1. osh, learned Government Advocate, Assam. Also heard Mr. R. K. Talukdar, learned Standing Counsel, Accountant General, Assam. 2. Case of the petitioner is that he joined service as Lower Division Assi stant (L.D.A) on 17.03.1964 in the establishment of Deputy Commissioner, Kamrup. After trifurcation of the then un-divided Kamrup District into Kamrup, Nalbari and Barpeta Districts, service of the petitioner as U.D.A was retained in the of fice of the Deputy Commissioner, Nalbari. In the course of his service, petition er was promoted to the post of Supervisor Assistant and retired in that capacity on 30.01.2001 upon attaining the age of superannuation. 3. Petitioner was paid pension and other retiral dues but was not paid the GPF amount. When the petitioner applied for payment of GPF amount, the office o f the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Nalbari forwarded the said application to the office of the Accountant General specifying the GPF accountant number of the petitioner as LR (A) 3085. But the same was found to be incorrect by the office of the Accountant General and was returned back. 4. Petitioner submitted representation for payment of his GPF amount but no such payment was made. 5. Aggrieved, petitioner has filed the present writ petition seeking a dire ction to the respondents to pay the GPF amount due to him without any further de lay. According to the petitioner, as per the procedure, the GPF account numbe 6. r is allotted to an incumbent by the office of the Accountant General which is f urnished to the Head of Office. Thereafter, subscription thereto is credited in the course of his service. Therefore, there can be no justification for withhold ing of the GPF amount due to the petitioner. 7. This Court by order dated 12.12.2008 issued notice and directed the resp ondent No.3 to apprise the Court the reasons as to why the GPF amount of the pet itioner was not released. 8. Respondent No.3 i.e., the Accountant General, Assam in his counter affid avit has stated that the GPF Account number LR-3085 quoted with the final withdr awal claim of GPF of the petitioner was found incorrect. As per office record of respondent No.3, it was not allotted to the petitioner. The head office neither furnished the correct GPF account number nor the copy of the allotment letter o f GPF account number issued to the petitioner. The claim of GPF amount of the pe titioner could not be settled due to non receipt of correct GPF account number a longwith the final withdrawal claim. Additional Deputy Commissioner was requeste d vide letter dated 29.05.2007 to re-submit the final withdrawal claim of the pe titioner with correct GPF account number. Respondent No.3 has stated that a subs criber eligible to subscribe into GPF is allotted with a distinguished GPF accou nt number by his office on receipt of application from Head of Office. During th e period of service, all the subscriptions deducted by the DDO on account of GPF are credited into the allotted GPF account number and on retirement, the accumu lated amount with accrued interest is paid to the subscriber from the said GPF a ccount number. Unless correct GPF account number of the subscriber is given by t he Head of Office, amount of GPF payable cannot be ascertained and paid. In the counter affidavit filed by the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Na 9. lbari, he has stated that the statement of subscription of GPF installments subs cribed to by the petitioner may be correct. However, the GPF account number whic This Court on 01.06.2009 passed the following order: The petitioner’s grievance, as registered in the instant petition, is th h is allotted from the office of the Accountant General, was not allotted from t he office of the Deputy Commissioner, Nalbari. It is further stated that there i s no record pertaining to the petitioner’s GPF account number in the office of t he Deputy Commissioner, Nalbari, which has to be verified by the office of the A ccountant General. 10. (cid:28) at though he had retired from service in the year 2001, his GPF dues have not be en released till date. The pleadings of the respondents divulge that the reason for the stalemate is a purported anomaly in his GPF account number. Though, the petitioner in his appli cation prayed for final withdrawal of GPF balance mentioning his account number as GPF Account No.LR (A) 3085, the office of the Accountant General, Assam, on t he basis of its records has refused to entertain the claim as according to it, t he number so furnished is mistaken. The affidavit of the Additional Deputy Commi ssioner, Nalbari, in the opinion of this Court is sketchy and vague in this rega rd. The Accountant General however has been categorical in his affidavit. As per the procedure, the GPF account number allotted to the incumbent is furnis hed to the head of his office and that by the office of the Accountant General a nd his subscription thereto, in course of his service tenure is credited accordi ngly. In the above view of the mater, Mr. Ghosh would obtain detailed instructions in this regard. As, in the opinion of this Court, the key to the present impasse li es in the office of the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Nalbari. (cid:29) 11. Thereafter, the office of the Accountant General filed additional affidavit indicating that the GPF amount of the petitioner under GPF account number DT- 32 38 totalling a sum of Rs. 28,122/- for the period from 1983-84 to 2000-2001 was released to the petitioner as final payment of his GPF balance. 12. Observing that the aforesaid amount did not cover the period of petitioner’s service from 1964 to 1983, this Court by order dated 10.08.2009 while admitting the case for hearing, directed the respondents to file additional affidavit to clarify the controversy. But no such affidavit has been filed. 13. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner has not been paid his GPF dues for the period from 1964 to 1983. During the said period, serv ice of the petitioner was in the establishment of the then undivided Kamrup Dist rict and the GPF of the petitioner for the said period was deducted from his sal ary by the establishment of the Deputy Commissioner, Kamrup District. 14. Mr. B. J. Ghosh, learned Government Advocate, submits that neither any recor d nor any information is available regarding the GPF amount or the salary of the petitioner for the aforesaid period.
Decision
15. In view of the aforesaid situation, the Court is of the opinion that the mat ter should be looked into by the respondent No.2 i.e., Secretary to the Governme nt of Assam, Pension and Public Grievances Department regarding deduction of GPF amount from the salary of the petitioner for the period from 1964 to1983 when h e had rendered service in the establishment of the Deputy Commissioner of the th en undivided Kamrup District. Ordered accordingly. Decision shall be taken by th e respondent No.2 within a period of 2 (two) months from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order. Once the decision is taken, the same shall be co mmunicated to the office of the Accountant General, Assam to enable the said aut hority to take further consequential steps within a period of two months from th e date of receipt of the decision of the respondent No.2. 16. This disposes of the writ petition.