Justice Prevails as Court Compensates Widow for Delayed Pension and Denounces Official Negligence: High Court of Patna
Title: Jaymanti Devi vs. The State of Bihar & ORS.
Citation: Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No:6338 of 2023
Coram: HONA’BLE MR. JUSTICE PURNENDU SINGH
Decided on: 04-10-23
Introduction:
It mentions the individuals who are involved or present in the case: Mr. Om Prakash Maharaj, who is identified as the learned counsel representing the petitioner. Mr. Manish Kumar, identified as “GP 4,” along with Mr. Manoj Kumar (referred to as “AC to GP 4”). Mrs. Ritika Rani, who is noted as the learned counsel for the Accountant General (Bihar). It is a civil Writ Petition.
Facts:
The facts of the case are such that, The learned counsel representing respondent numbers 2 and 9 has filed a second supplementary statement of facts on their behalf in the court. The petitioner, represented by another counsel, has informed the court that there has been a delay of 15 years in the payment of retiral dues, including family pension. The petitioner’s husband passed away in 2008 while he was serving as a Chawkidar.
The petitioner’s counsel argues that pension is not a privilege but a fundamental right under Article 300A of the Constitution of India. They claim that the petitioner is entitled to compensation and interest, as per legal precedents, for the delay in receiving pension and other retiral dues, starting from the date of entitlement to the date of payment.
Court Analysis & Judgement:
The petitioner, who is already receiving a family pension and has had some retiral dues paid, has faced a significant delay in the process, and this has caused considerable hardship to her as a widow and an illiterate individual. The court has expressed strong disapproval of the callous attitude of State Government officials, particularly the Block Development Officer, Circle Officer, and District Magistrate, in handling the petitioner’s case. In response to this, the District Magistrate has been directed by the court to compensate the petitioner with a sum of Rs. 5,00,000 (five lac) in addition to the interest, based on legal precedents provided in the cases of State of Kerala Vs. M. Padmanabhan Nair (1985) 1 SCC 429 and D.D. Tewari Vs. Uttar Haryana Bijli (2014) 8 SCC 894.
The court has given a timeframe for the authority concerned to carry out this compensation, which is within four weeks from the date of passing the order. With these observations and directions, the writ petition in this case has been disposed of. This implies that the court has concluded its proceedings in this matter based on the provided judgment.
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Written By: Gauri Joshi