S/L 14 v. The State of West Bengal & Ors.
Case at a glance
- Bench
- AMRITA SINHA
Outcome
Disposed of
The writ petition stands disposed of
Key paragraphs
- Para 99. The writ petition stands disposed of. Parties to act on the basis of the server copy of this order duly downloaded from the official website of this Court. (Amrita Sinha, J.)
Judgment
Mr. Subrata Bhattacharjee … for the Petitioner. … for the State.
Affidavit of service filed on behalf of the petitioner in Court today be kept with the records.
The petitioner retired on 31.08.2023 on attaining his normal age of superannuation. Pension Payment Order was issued in his favour on 28.01.2025. Prior thereto, the petitioner was directed to deposit a sum of Rs.1,87,826/- on account of refund of overdrawn payment which the petitioner did by a Treasury Challan dated 19.11.2024.
In the instant writ petition the petitioner prays for refund of the aforesaid overdrawn amount.
It has been submitted that the said amount could not have been directed to be refunded on account of excess payment immediately prior to the retirement of the teacher.
The Hon’ble Supreme Court in the matter of State of Punjab & Ors. Vs. Rafiq Masih (White Washer) & Ors. reported in (2015) 4 SCC 334 laid down that recovery from retired employees and 2 recovery from employees who are due to retire within one year of the order of recovery is impermissible.
In the instant case, the petitioner has been directed to refund the amount immediately prior to his retirement. The same could not have been done.
In view of the above, the instant writ petition is disposed of by directing the Director of Pension, Provident Fund and Group Insurance, the concerned District Inspector of Schools and the concerned Treasury Officer to refund to the petitioner the aforesaid amount along with interest @ 5% per annum calculated from the date of issuance of the Pension Payment Order till date of actual payment at the earliest but positively within a period of twelve weeks from the date of communication of this order.
Operative part
The writ petition stands disposed of. Parties to act on the basis of the server copy of this order duly downloaded from the official website of this Court. (Amrita Sinha, J.)
Precedent status how later indexed judgments have treated this case
No known negative treatment found in the Courts & Cases corpus.
This is a result about the indexed corpus, not a finding that the judgment remains good law. Coverage may be incomplete.