The High Court
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF ODISHA, CUTTACK W.P.(C) No.3511 of 2020 In the matter of an application under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India. ---------------------------- Ashok Kumar Kar ....... Petitioner -Versus- State of Odisha & others ....... Opp. Parties For Petitioner : Mr. S.K. Mishra, Advocate For Opp. Parties : Mr. G. Rout, A.S.C. ---------------------------- CORAM: JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR MISHRA JUDGMENT 01.02.2023 S.K. MISHRA,J. 1. The Petitioner, who is a retired State Government employee (retired since 30.06.2013) and is suffering from cancer, has approached this Court seeking for a direction to the Opposite Parties for regularization of his service for different periods while he was working as Junior Engineers in different blocks, fixation of pay under the ORSP Rules, 1996 & 2006 and payment of other dues, including the pensionary benefits within a specific time frame. 2. Shorn of unnecessary details, the facts of the present case are as follows: The Petitioner, while working as Sub-Divisional Officer in Indira Irrigation Sub-Division, Khariar, filed a representation dated 15.02.2011 before the Opposite Party No.1 to regularize his service. When no action was taken on the said representation, the Petitioner approached the Odisha Administrative Tribunal by filing O.A. No.380(C) of 2013. The Tribunal disposed of the said O.A. vide Order dated 17.03.2015 with a direction to the Respondent Nos.1 & 2 to consider and dispose of the representation of the petitioner within a period of two months from the date of receipt of the said Order. Despite direction of the Tribunal, as no action was taken by Opposite Party Nos.1 & 2, the petitioner filed Contempt Petition vide C.P. No.85(C) of 2016. On being noticed, the Deputy Secretary to Govt., Panchayati Raj Department, filed letter of compliance stating therein that W.P.(C) No.3511 of 2020 Page 2 of 28 they have considered the representation of the Petitioner dated 15.02.2011 and direction has been given to the concerned B.D.Os., under whom the Petitioner was serving, to take immediate steps for regularization of his service, fixation of pay under the ORSP Rules, 1996 and 2006 and updation of service book vide letter No.13872/PR dated 21.08.2013. When no action was taken on the said letter, the Petitioner was constrained to file the second O.A. before the Tribunal vide O.A. No.204 of 2017. The Tribunal disposed of the said O.A. vide Order dated 08.08.2018 with a direction to the Respondent Nos.1 & 2 to get the Service Book verified at various stations, where the Petitioner/Applicant was working, by sending special messenger, get his pay revised as per various ORSP Rules from 1996 onwards, if not done so far and thereafter his final pension paper be accordingly prepared and to draw the arrears and disburse the same. It was further directed that the entire exercise be completed within a period of four months from the date of receipt of a copy of the order. Because of inaction of the Authority to act in terms of the said Order dated 08.08.2018 passed by the W.P.(C) No.3511 of 2020 Page 3 of 28 Tribunal, the Petitioner was being compelled to approach this
Decision
Court in W.P.(C) No. 19511 of 2019, which was disposed of at the stage of admission on 21.10.2019 directing the Commissioner-Cum-Secretary to Govt., Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water Department, Odisha, Bhubaneswar-Opposite Party No.1 to consider the Representation of the Petitioner within a period of two months from the date of communication of the certified copy of the said Order along with copy of the Writ Petition. Being so directed, the Petitioner communicated the said Order by hand to the Opposite Party No.1. Instead of disposing of the Representation of the Petitioner, in terms of the direction given by this Court vide Order dated 21.10.2019 in W.P.(C) No. 19511 of 2019, the Additional Secretary to Govt., Panchayti Raj & Drinking Water Department, Govt. of Odisha vide D.O. No. 24462/PR & DW, dated 31.12.2019 wrote a letter to the BDO, Muribahal Block to take expeditious steps for regularisation of service/fixation of pay, if any, relating to his station and transmit the updated Service Book to the next station within seven days. W.P.(C) No.3511 of 2020 Page 4 of 28 3. Unfortunately, despite the direction given by the Tribunal, so also Order passed by this Court to dispose of the Representation of the Petitioner, who retired since 30.06.2013 and is suffering from cancer, the said direction given by the Tribunal is yet to be worked out. Being aggrieved by the inaction of the opposite parties, the Petitioner has approached this Court again with the prayers as detailed above. 4. Tough notice was issued to the Opposite Parties; no Counter Affidavit has yet been filed by the State. However, being directed vide Order dated 23.09.2022, a compliance Affidavit has been filed by the State on 22.12.2022. 5. Heard Mr. S.K. Mishra, learned Counsel for the Petitioner and Mr. G.N. Rout, learned Additional Standing Counsel for the State-Opposite Parties. 6. Mr. Rout, learned Additional Standing Counsel brings to the notice of the Court as to the averments made in paragraphs-6 to 12 of the compliance Affidavit dated 20.12.2022 which are extracted below: “6. That, in compliance to the said Order Dt.08.08.2018, a meeting through Video Conference mode was conducted by the Director, W.P.(C) No.3511 of 2020 Page 5 of 28 Panchayati Raj with the Block Development Officers of Agalpur Block, Muribahal Block, Khaprakhol Block, Titilagarh Block, Saintala Block, Patnagarh Block, Anandapur Block and Bansapal Block on 30.09.2022. And all the concerned BDOs were requested vide Letter No.19263, Dt. 12.10.2022 to furnish detail proposal along with service particulars, non-drawal certificate etc. during incumbency of Sri Kar in their blocks for regularization of service. Copy of letter dated 12.10.2022 is filed and marked as Annexure-A/1. 7. That, the BDOP, Bansapal Block has furnished a consolidated proposal for regularization of service of Sri Kar vide Letter No.4266, Dt.11.11.2022. Copy of Letter No.4266, Dt.11.11.2022 is filed herewith and marked as Annexure-B/1. 8. That, extraordinary leave for a period of 1202 days, in 8 phases, has been sanctioned vide Order No.22345, Dt.19.11.2022 and the periods of suspension from 06.04.1993 to 29.04.1994 (389 days) and from 26.12.1997 to 05.07.1998 (192 days) has been deducted from his qualifying service vide Order No.22708, Dt. 23.11.2022. Copy of Order dated 19.11.2022 and Copy of order dated 23.11.2022 are filed herewith and marked As Annexure-C/1 and Annexure-D/1 respectively. 9. That, the original Service Book and copies of the orders has been forwarded to the O/o the BDO, Bansapal with a request to update the W.P.(C) No.3511 of 2020 Page 6 of 28 service book and regularize the service of Sri Kar. It has also been requested to transmit all the documents to the O/o the SE, Kalahandi Irrigation Division for preparation of pension paper. 10. That, pursuant to the Order No.22345, Dt. 19.11.2022 and Order No.22708, Dt. 23.11.2022, the BDO, Bansapal Block has made necessary entry in the Service Book to verify the service periods of Sri Kar and transmitted the same to the SE, Kalahandi Irrigation Division, Bhawanipatna for further necessary action vide their letter No.4560, Dt. 25.11.2022. Copy of letter dated 25.11.2022 is filed herewith and marked as Annexure-E/1. 11. That, the BDO, Bansapal Block has mentioned that, the HRMS module of Sri Kar is not available at their BDO database, as such they could not draw the arrear salaries of Sri Kar, and which may be drawn at his last station. Accordingly, the SE, Kalahandi Irrigation Division, Bhawanipatana has been requested to take appropriate step to release the arrear salaries of Sri Kar vide Letter No.23707, Dt. 05.12.2022. Copy of letter dated 05.12.2022 is filed herewith and marked as Annexure-F/1. 12. That it is humbly submitted that this deponent has already taken necessary steps by regularizing the service of the petitioner rendered under P.R. & D.W. Department within his jurisdiction. As regards sanction of W.P.(C) No.3511 of 2020 Page 7 of 28 pension the appropriate authority i.e. Water Resources Department will take necessary steps for the same.” (emphasis supplied) 7. Mr. Mishra, learned Counsel for the Petitioner submits that the entire process of collecting the Last Pay Certificate of the Petitioner was only initiated pursuant to the order dated 23.09.2022 passed by this Court, vide which a direction was given for compliance of Order dated 08.08.2018, passed in O.A. No.204 of 2017. He further submits that it is obligatory on the part of the employer to pay the after retiral dues of the employee immediately after his retirement. He draws attention of this Court as to the provisions enshrined under Rule-58 of the Orissa Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1992 and submits that though it is obligatory on the part of the authority concerned to undertake the work of preparation of pension papers in Form-F, two years before the date on which a Government servant is due to retire on superannuation, but to the reasons best known to the authority concerned, the after retiral dues of the Petitioner, including pension, was not released in his favour, for which, he was constrained to W.P.(C) No.3511 of 2020 Page 8 of 28 approach the Odisha Administrative Tribunal and despite direction given by the Tribunal, so also this Court, till date he is to get various after retiral dues, so also pensionary benefits as has been detailed in the Writ Petition. 8. Learned Counsel for the Petitioner brings to the notice of this Court the Circular dated 30.12.1999 of the Government of Odisha, Public Grievances and Pension Administration Department appended to the Objection dated 27.01.2023 with regard to timely payment of pension by the Pension Sanctioning Authorities and payment of interest on the delayed payment of pension. 9. He further submits that in view of the Judgment of the apex Court, so also this Court as well as Circular dated 30.12.1999, the Petitioner is entitled to get 18% interest on the after retiral dues so also arrear pension from 30.06.2013 till the date of actual payment. 10. To substantiate his argument, learned Counsel for the Petitioner places reliance on the Judgment of the apex Court in the case of State of Kerala & others Vs. Padmanabhan Nair1. 1 AIR 1985 SC 356 W.P.(C) No.3511 of 2020 Page 9 of 28 11. Needless to mention here that based on the averments made in the Writ Petition so also submissions made by the learned Counsel for the parties, this Court passed a detailed Order on 23.09.2023 which is reproduced below. mode. “1. This matter is taken up through hybrid 2. The present Petitioner, who retired from service on 30.06.2013, while serving as an S.D.O. in the Indira Irrigation Sub-Division, Khariar in the district of Nuapada had filed O.A. No. 204 of 2017 before the Odisha Administrative Tribunal, Cuttack Bench, Cuttack, praying for direction to Respondents to take immediate steps for regularization of service, fixing of pay under the ORSP Rules from 1996 to 2006, so also to grant him the differential salary and other dues and revised pension within a specific time frame. 3. The Odisha Administrative Tribunal, Cuttack Bench, Cuttack disposed of the said O.A. dated 08.08.2018 with the following directions:- the that spirit respondents other “4. From the facts as brought out in the O.A. as well as from the counter, it is seen than respondent No. 3 have not followed in letter and circulars and instruction to up-date the Service records of a retiring like applicant and regularize his pay etc. prior to his retirement. The B.D.Os. i.e. respondents No. 4 to 14 under whom the applicant worked as a Junior Engineer for more than two decades government employee W.P.(C) No.3511 of 2020 Page 10 of 28 are responsible for this. Respondent No. 1 who is the Pension Sanctioning Authority and respondent No. 2 who is the Head of the Department have to pay adequate attention to this matter. 5. In view of this, respondents particularly Nos. 1 and 2 are directed to get the Service Book verified at various stations where the applicant was working by sending special messenger, get his pay be revised as per various ORSP Rules from 1996 onwards, if not done so far and thereafter his final pension papers be accordingly prepared and arrears drawn and disbursed to him. Entire exercise be completed within a period of four months from the date of receipt a copy of this Order.” 4. Because of inaction of the Authority to act in terms of the said Order dated 08.08.2018 passed by the Administrative Tribunal, the present Petitioner was being compelled to approach this Court in W.P.(C) No. 19511 of 2019, which was disposed of at the stage of admission on 21.10.2019 directing the Commissioner-Cum- Secretary to Govt., Panchayati Raj & D.W. Deptt., Odisha, Bhubaneswar-Opposite Party No.1 to considerthe Representation of the Petitioner within a period of two months from the date of communication of the certified copy of the said Order along with copy of the Writ Petition. 5. Being so directed by this Court, the Petitioner communicated the said Order passed by this Court in W.P.(C) No. 19511 of 2019 on 15.11.2019 by hand to the Opposite Party No. 1. W.P.(C) No.3511 of 2020 Page 11 of 28 6. Instead of disposing of the Representation of the Petitioner, in terms of the direction given by this Court vide Order dated 21.10.2019 in W.P.(C) No. 19511 of 2019, the Additional Secretary to Govt., Panchayti Raj & Drinking Water Department, Govt. of Odisha vide D.O. No. 24462/PR & DW, dated 31.12.2019 wrote a letter to the BDO, Muribahal Block, which reads as follows:- “ Dear Sri Patra Sub: Regularisation of services and fixation of pay as per ORSP Rules 1996 & 2006 along with up-dating of Service Book of Sri Ashok Kumar Kar, Ex-JE, (Rtd.) Order No. 2 dated 21.10.2019 of Hon’ble High Court of Odisha in W.P.C. No. 19511 of 2019. I am desired to enclose a copy of Order No. 02 dated 21.10.2019 passed by the Hon’ble High Court of Odisha in W.P.(C) No. 19511/2019 filed by Sri Ashok Kumar Kar vrs- State of Odisha & others and to say that in the said order the Hon’ble High Court have directed to complete the task to update the S.B. of Sri Kar, to fix his pay under ORSP Rules 1996 and 2006 and also to disburse the arrears if any arising thereof within December 2019. It is seen from the Department record that the Service Book of Sri Kar received by your office from Agalpur Block is pending for action in your office. It is a matter of serious concern W.P.(C) No.3511 of 2020 Page 12 of 28 that although Sri Kar has retired from Government service since 30.08.2013, but his regular pension/retirement benefits has not been finalized till date despite several Government instructions for expeditious actions to materialize pension cases at the earliest. Besides, Sri Kar is suffering from Cancer and is unable to undergo treatment of self due to severe scarcity of money. I would, therefore, request you to kindly look into the matter personally and take expeditious steps for regularization of service/fixation of pay, if any, relating to your Station as per the incumbency chart enclosed and transmit the up-dated Service Book to the next station within seven days from today and with intimation to the Department in next memo.” 7. Needless to mention here that copies of the said communication were also forwarded to the Block Development Officer, Khaprakhol, Titilagarh, Saintala, Patnagarh, Anandapur and Banspal Block for information and necessary action with a request to take immediate steps for regularization of services of Sri Kar on an urgent basis. Copy of the said communication was also forwarded to the Engineer in-Chief, Water Resources Department, Odisha, Bhubaneswar, so also Executive Engineer Kalahandi Irrigation Division Bhawanipatna, District Kalahandi for information and necessary action. W.P.(C) No.3511 of 2020 Page 13 of 28 8. Admittedly, the Petitioner is suffering from cancer and he is unable to get treated due to severe financial crises. 9. Unfortunately, despite the direction given by the Administrative Tribunal, so also Order passed by this Court to dispose of the Representation of the Petitioner, who retired since 2013 and is suffering from cancer, the said direction given by the Administrative Tribunal is yet to be worked out. 10. As revealed from the Order-Sheet despite giving several opportunities, neither any Counter has been filed nor any instructions with regard to the reasons for non-compliance of Order passed by the Tribunal has been obtained by the learned Counsel for the State till date. 11. In view of such admitted facts on record, there is no need to file any Counter by the State. Rather, the said Order passed by the Tribunal, which has attained finality, needs to be implemented in terms of the communication made by the Additional Secretary to Govt., Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water Department, Govt. of Odisha dated 31.12.2019, as at Annexure-7. 12. Learned Counsel for the State prays for some more time to take instructions, so also file compliance Affidavit, which is allowed as last chance. 13. List the matter on 10.10.2022 under the heading “For Admission”. 14. Instructions, as prayed for, be obtained W.P.(C) No.3511 of 2020 Page 14 of 28 unfailingly before the next date of listing and compliance Affidavit be filed by the next date.” (emphasis supplied) 12. On being so directed by this Court, after taking several adjournments, ultimately compliance Affidavit was filed on 22.12.2022, the relevant portion of which has already been reproduced above. 13. In response to the said Compliance Affidavit, the Petitioner has filed an Objection on 27.01.2023. Relying on the said affidavit, learned Counsel for the Petitioner submits that despite specific provisions under the Orissa Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1992 vide Rules 57 to 59 and 61 to 64, the Authority concerned failed to exercise their duty and in view of the Circular dated 30.12.1999, since there is a delay of almost a decade without any fault on the part of the Petitioner, the Opposite Parties are responsible for their laches and are liable to pay interest @ 18% per annum for the delay caused for non-payment of the pension and other after retiral dues of the Petitioner. The said Rules are extracted below: “57. Preparation of list of Government Servants due for retirement – (1) Every Head of W.P.(C) No.3511 of 2020 Page 15 of 28 Office shall have a list prepared every year i.e. on the 1st day of July each year of all Government servants working under him who are due to retire within the next 18 to 24 months. (2) A copy of every such list shall be supplied to the Accountant-General, Odisha, Appointing Authority, Administrative Department concerned, Director of Treasuries and Inspection, Odisha, and the Estate Officer or the competent authority, as the case may be (if the Government servant concerned is an allottee of Government accommodation), not later than the 31st of July each year in ‘Form-A’. Provided that to avoid overstayal in service beyond the date of retirement, the Codal Provision and Rules above are to be scrupulously followed to ensure proper maintenance of Service Book. The Officers functioning as Drawing and Disbursing Officers, the Head Clerks (Head Ministerial Officers) working under him and Clerks/Assistants entrusted with the the responsibility of maintenance of the Service Book of the concerned employee shall be jointly and severally held responsible for overstayal of the concerned employee. The money received by such employee during the period of overstayal shall be recovered from the salary and retirement benefits of the persons responsible in equal proportions. W.P.(C) No.3511 of 2020 Page 16 of 28 (3) In the case of a Government servant retiring for reasons other than by way of superannuation, the Head of Office shall promptly inform the authorities stated in sub-rule (2) as soon as the fact of such retirement becomes known to him. 58. Preparation of pension papers- (1) Every Head of Office shall undertake the work of preparation of pension papers in [Form F] two years before the date on which a Government servant is due to retire on superannuation. Where retiring Government servant is himself the Head of Office/Head of Department, the preparation of pension papers shall be undertaken by the Head of Department/Administrative Department, as the case may be. (2) The Head of Office shall be responsible for obtaining the particulars from the Government servant at least one year before the date of retirement in Form E and complete the processing of pension papers as early as possible and in no case not later than eight months in advance of the date of retirement of the employee. (3) Where the Head of Office is not the appointing authority, pension papers shall be transmitted to the appointing authority one year before the date of retirement of the Government W.P.(C) No.3511 of 2020 Page 17 of 28 servant and the Head of Office shall take the action well in advance keeping this time limit in view. 59. Stages for processing of pension papers- (1) The Head of Office shall go through the service book and the service roll, if any, of the Government servant and satisfy himself as to whether the certificates of verification for the entire service period are recorded therein. (2) In respect of the unverified portion or portions of service he shall arrange to verify the portion or portions of such service, as the case may be, with reference to pay bills, acquaintance rolls or other relevant records and record necessary certificates in the service book or service roll, as the case may be. (3) If the service for any period is not capable of being verified in the manner specified in sub-rule (1) and sub-rule (2), that period of service if rendered by the Government servant in another office or Department, reference shall be made to that office/Department in which the Government servant is shown to have served during that period for the purpose of verification. (4) If any portion of service rendered by a Government servant is not capable of being verified in the manner specified in sub-rule (1) or sub-rule (2) or sub-rule (3) the Government servant shall be asked to file a written statement on plain W.P.(C) No.3511 of 2020 Page 18 of 28 paper stating that he had in fact rendered that period of service and shall, at the foot of the statement, make and subscribe to a declaration as to the truth of that statement, and shall in support of such declaration produce documentary evidence and furnish all information which is in his power to produce or furnish. (5) The authority competent to sanction pension to that Government servant shall, after taking into consideration the facts in the written statement and the evidence produced and the information furnished by that Government servant in support of the said period of service, admit that portion of service as having been rendered for the purpose of calculating the pension of that Government servant. (6) The Head of Office shall prepare the pension papers on the basis of the qualifying service determined by him in accordance with the provisions indicated above and send the pension papers to the Accountant General, Odisha through the Pension Sanctioning Authority for authorisation of Pension Payment Order/Gratuity Payment Order four months in advance of the date of retirement. 61. Completion of Pension Papers - The Head of Office shall complete part-1 of [Form-F] not later than 6 months of the date of retirement of the Government servant. W.P.(C) No.3511 of 2020 Page 19 of 28 62. Forwarding of Pension Papers to the Appointing Authority / Accounts Officer- (1) After completing Part-I portion of Form-F in triplicate, the Head of Office shall forward the same along with Form-E to the Appointing Authority (where the Head of Office is not the appointing authority) with the service book or services roll of the government Servant duly completed up to date and any other documents relied upon for the verification of the service. Provided that where the Original Service Book is completely damaged or destroyed or lost, duplicate copy of Service Book in an up to date form available with the Government Servant shall be relied upon for the verification of service without insisting upon the original service book. (2) (i) The Appointing Authority shall sanction the pension in Part-II of ‘Form-F’ and intimate the same to the Accountant-General, Odisha in “Form-G” not later than two months before the date of retirement of Government servant. (ii) It shall be the sole responsibility of the pension sanctioning authority to forward the pension on only Pension papers to the Accountant-General in time prescribed under Clause (i) of this sub-rule and sub-rule (2) of rule 75 failing which he shall be liable for disciplinary action. W.P.(C) No.3511 of 2020 Page 20 of 28 (3) (i) xxx xxx xxx xxx (ii) The Accounts Officers, while issuing the pensionary authorisation, countersign the Part III of the Form-F as a certified by the appointing authority, retain one copy (out of the three received by him from the appointing authority) and forward one copy as countersigned by him to the pensioner, along with the intimation of having sent the pension payment order to the Treasury. The other certified copy of the Part-III of the Form-F as countersigned by the Accounts Officer shall be returned to the appointing authority concerned who shall keep the same in a guard file with a proper index for future reference. 63. Intimation to Accounts Officer regarding any event having bearing on pension- (1) If after the pension papers have been forwarded to the Accounts Officer within the period specified in sub-rule (2) of rule 62 any event occurs which has a bearing on the amount of pension admissible, the fact thereof shall immediately be reported to the Accounts Officer by the Appointing Authority. (2) The Appointing Authority after ascertaining and assessing the Government dues as in rule 68 shall furnish the particulars thereof to the Accounts Officer at least two months before the date of retirement of a Government servant so W.P.(C) No.3511 of 2020 Page 21 of 28 that the dues are recovered out of the gratuity before its payment is authorised. (3) If, after the particulars of Government dues have been intimated to the Accounts Officer under sub-rule (2) any additional Government dues come to the notice of the Appointing Authority, such fact shall be promptly reported to the Accounts Officer. 64. Authorisation of pension and Gratuity by the Accounts Officer- (1) On receipt of pension papers referred to in rule 62 the Accounts Officer shall undertake the requisite checks, record the account enfacement in Part-III of [Form F] and assess the amount of pension and gratuity and issue the pension payment order not later than one month in advance of the date of retirement of the Government servant if the pension is payable in his unit of Account Circle. (2) If the pension is payable in other than his unit of Account Circle the Accounts Officer shall send the pension payment order along with a copy of Form-F and the accounts enfacement to the Accounts Officer of that unit of Account Circle for arranging the payment. (emphasis supplied) 14. Learned Counsel for the State vehemently opposes to the said submissions made by the learned Counsel for the W.P.(C) No.3511 of 2020 Page 22 of 28 Petitioner for payment of interest on the ground that there is no specific prayer made to the said effect in the Writ Petition. 15. Learned Counsel for the Petitioner submits that since there is circular to the said effect, so also in view of the settled position of law in the said regard, even without any specific prayer to the said effect in the Writ Petition, this Court is competent to award interest on the delayed payment of pensionary benefits of the Petitioner which is yet to be paid. 16. That apart, the Petitioner, who is a cancer patient and retired since 30.06.2013, was being compelled to approach the Administrative Tribunal, so also this Court for redressal of his grievances with regard to non-release of various dues as detailed above. It is worthwhile to mention here that the petitioner approached the Tribunal in O.A. No.380(C) of 2013, which was disposed of on 17.03.2015 followed by Contempt Petition registered as C.P. No.85(C) of 2016. Thereafter, the Petitioner filed the O.A. No.204 of 2017, disposed of on 08.08.2018 and lastly filed W.P.(C) No.19511 of 2019, which was disposed of on 21.10.2019 before the approaching this Court in form of present Writ Petition for W.P.(C) No.3511 of 2020 Page 23 of 28 redressal of the selfsame grievances which were subject matter in the aforementioned cases. 17. In case of State of Kerala (supra), the apex Court has observed as follows: “Pension and gratuity are no longer any bounty to be distributed by the Government to its employees on their retirement but have become, under the decisions of this Court, valuable rights and property in their hands and any culpable delay in settlement and disbursement thereof must be visited with the penalty of payment of interest at the current market rate till actual payment.” (emphasis supplied) 18. In the case of State of Punjab v. Justice S.S. Dewan2, the apex Court held that conceptually, pension is a reward for past service. It is determined on the basis of length of service and last pay drawn. Length of service is determinative of eligibility and quantum of pension. 19. In the case of Vasant Gangaramsa Chandan v. State of Maharashtra3, the apex Court held that pension is not bounty of the State. It is earned by the employee for