SMT. JYOTSHNA CHAKRABORTY v. THE STATE OF TRIPURA &

Legal Reasoning

Party Name : SMT. JYOTSHNA CHAKRABORTY Vs THE STATE OF TRIPURA & 3 ORS. HON''BLE MR JUSTICE U B SAHA The instant writ petition is filed by the petitioner, a retired Group ‘D’ employee, for payment of the amount of her Provident Fund as admittedly defalcated by some other employees along with 8% interest from the date of filing of the writ petition being no. WP(C) 218 of 1999 as per judgment dated 17-05-2007 as well as the order dated 19-04-2010 passed in Review Petition no. 05 of 2008. Heard Mr. Bidyut Majumder, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner as well as Mr. S. Chakraborty, learned Addl. G.A. appearing for the State-respondents, who submits, on instruction, that the instant writ petition can be disposed of with a simple direction to the Director of School Education for making payment of Provident Fund of the petitioner after proper calculation in terms of the order in the aforesaid writ petition as well as the review petition. As agreed to by the learned counsel appearing for the parties and the nature of facts involved in the petition, the instant writ petition is taken up for final disposal at this motion stage itself. The brief facts needed to be discussed are as follows :- The petitioner is a retired government employee and the date of her retirement is 30-04-2008 and the petitioner along with other 41 nos. of staff of Kakraban Higher Secondary(+2 stage) School had filed the writ petition being no. WP(C) 218 of 1999 before the Agartala Bench of Gauhati High Court, wherein the High Court after hearing the parties directed the State of Tripura, the Director, Department of School Education, the Deputy Director as well as the Treasury Officer, Udaipur Treasury Office to complete the process of depositing the amount defalcated by the said employees by calculating the exact amount of defalcation from the P.F. Accounts in the account of the present petitioner as well as other writ petitioners in the said writ petition within three months from the date of receipt of certified copy of the judgment and order in that case, and in case of failure on the part of the state respondents to deposit the said missing amount in each and every account of the petitioners therein within the stipulated period of three months along with interest @ 8% from the date of filing of the writ petition. Thereafter, the State-respondents therein filed a review petition which was registered being Review Petition 05 of 2008 and the same was disposed of on 19-04-2010 allowing the State-respondents to pay the defalcated amount relating to the petitioner and other retired employees who had filed the WP(C) 218 of 1999 directly by cheque. But even then also the State- respondents did not issue any cheque in favour of the petitioner. Thus, the writ petition. It is the admitted position that on 22-12-1997, the Assistant Headmaster of Kakraban Higher Secondary School lodged a complaint to the Officer-i- -Charge of Kakraban outpost vide letter No.F.4(1) KBSS/97-98/811/97 alleging that Sri Dipak Goswami, L.D.C.-cu- -Cashier, the respondent no. 8 in WP(C) 218 of 1999, had drawn a hefty amount of Rs.4,67,580/- (Rupees Four lacs sixty seven thousand five hundred & eighty) as pay bill of October, 1997 by preparing false bill and ultimately, the said respondent no. 8 had also misappropriated of Rs.98,393/-(Rupees Ninety eight thousand three hundred & ninety three) for the month of October, 1997 and also had withdrawn some other amounts from the General Provident Fund (GPF) by preparing false bill and as a result, the petitioner did not receive the defalcated amount of his Provident Fund, as the same was not deposited by the aforesaid respondent no. 8. The State-respondents in their affidavit-in-opposition in the earlier writ petition stated as under: “12. That with regard to the averments/ contentions made in para-10 of the instant writ petition I say that it is admitted that due to the above defalcation, the employees concerned are facing extreme difficulty in regard to the withdrawal of money from their G.P.F. accounts and more so to employees who are on the verge of retirement but until and unless the actual amount defalcation is ascertained, it is hardly possible to locate the defalcated amount against each employee although information from some employees were collected through prescribed proforma by the Enquiry Officers. Secondly, it is also not admitted that the respondents are not trying to locate the defalcated amount in respect of each of the petitioners. Fact behind is that the matter is being enquired into by the Vigilance Organization and the CID. Police of the Government and until and unless the report is received it will not be wise to state anything on the matter. It is pertinent to mention here that a file has been initiated by the answering respondent for taking necessary action in regard to payment of defalcated G.P.F. Money to the concerned employee of Kakraban H.S. School, but it will take time to reach to a correct and fair conclusion.” Considering the entire facts and circumstances, the Gauhati High Court, Agartala Bench passed the order, as stated supra, and thereafter in Review Petition also the State-respondents admitted the claim of the petitioner and others and ultimately, the review petition was allowed with a direction to the State-respondents for making payment of the defalcated amount to the Provident Fund directly by cheque to the writ petitioners including the petitioner herein who retired from service on superannuation. Mr. Chakraborty, learned Addl. G.A. while urging for disposing of the writ petition would also contend that as the calculation could not be done in time, the respondents failed to issue any cheque in favour of the petitioner. It is unfortunate that even after getting about three years time, the respondents could not calculate the amount entitled to by the petitioner. From the aforesaid submission of Mr. Chakraborty, it can be imagined how the administrative function in Director of School Education Department is going on. However, as the learned counsel for the petitioner is also agreed to the proposal of Mr. Chakraborty, it would meet justice if the respondent no. 2 is directed to issue cheque to the writ petitioner so far as her entitlement of payment of the defalcated amount to the Provident Fund is concerned after proper calculation within a period of two months from the date of receipt of this order in terms of the order passed in WP(C) 218 of 1999. Accordingly, it is ordered. With the aforesaid order, the instant writ petition is disposed of. Copy of this order be furnished to Mr. S. Chakraborty, learned Addl. G.A. for onward transmission, so that the order of this Court be complied with. Download Date: 8-05-2017 16:05 1/1