GARG, J. - (1.) THE petitioner has filed the present writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India on 26. 4. 2004 against the respondents with a prayer that by an appropriate writ, order or direction the respondents be directed to release the post retirement benefits along with interest @ 24% per annum.
(2.) IT arises in the following circumstances: i) That at the time of retirement, the petitioner was holding the post of Senior Munshrim in the office of respondent No. 1 (the Dist. And Sessions Judge, Jodhpur) and the retired on 30. 11. 2003 after attaining the age of superannuation through order dated 8. 9. 2003 (Annex. 1) passed by the respondent No. 1 (Dist. And Sessions Judge, Jodhpur ). ii) That further case of the petitioner is that when he retired through order dated 8. 9. 2003 (Annex. 1), at that time, no departmental enquiry was pending against him, but as per the provisions of Rajasthan Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1996, he was not given all post retirement benefits by the respondent without any fault on the part of the petitioner. iii) Further case of the petitioner is that the post retirement benefits have not been given by the respondents on the pretext that while he was posted as Reader in the Essential Commodities Court, Jodhpur (respondent No. 2), some articles were not handed over by him so far. iv) Further case of the petitioner is the through order dated 15. 12. 89, he was sent on deputation to the officer of respondent No. 2 (Essential Commodities Court, Jodhpur) and thereafter by order dated 6. 10. 2001, he was again sent to the office of respondent No. 1 (Dist. And Sessions Judge, Jodhpur ). v) Further case of the petitioner is that at the time when he was relieved from the office of respondent No. 2 (Essential Commodities Court, Jodhpur), he had prepared a list of items which were handed over to him and he handed over all the articles which were entrusted to him and therefore, no item was lying with him. vi) Further case of the petitioner is that through communication dated 17. 11. 2003 (Annex. 2) written by the respondent No. 1 (Dist. And Sessions Judge, Jodhpur) to the petitioner, he was asked to hand over all the articles which were taken by him at the time of taking over of charge in the office of respondent No. 2 (Essential Commodities Court, Jodhpur ). Along with the letter dt. 17. 11. 2003, a letter dt. 13. 11. 2003 written by the respondent No. (Special Judge, Essential Commodities Cases, Jodhpur) was also sent to the petitioner. vii) That the reply was submitted by the petitioner on 22. 11. 2003 in which he has stated that the items mentioned in the letter dated 13. 11. 2003 were never entrusted to him no they were in his power and possession and therefore, the was no question of handing over the same. viii) Further case of the petitioner is that because of that fact, no objection certificate (NOC) was not issued by the respondent No. 2 (Essential Commodities Court) which resulted into denial of entire post retirement benefits and apart from this, it has further been submitted by the petitioner that even provisional pension as per Rule 86 of the Rules of 1996 has not been paid to him. ix) Further case of the petitioner is that when he was relieved from the office of reader of respondent No. 2 (Essential Commodities Court, Jodhpur), Last Pay Certificate dated 23. 10. 2001 (Annex. 3) was issued in which it was mentioned that there were no dues against the petitioner. x) Further case of the petitioner is that so far as charge of office of Sr. Munshrim is concerned, at the time of retirement, he handed over the charge through proceedings dtd. 27. 11. 2003 (Annex. 4) and thus, when he had handed over the charge of last post, he was entitled to all post retirement benefits. xi) Further case of the petitioner is that through certificate dated 30. 11. 2003 (Annex. 5) which was issued by the respondent No. 1 (Dist. And Sessions Judge, Jodhpur) it has been clarified that the petitioner had retired on 30. 11. 2003 and at that time, no departmental enquiry as contemplated under the Rules of 1958 was pending against him. xii) Further case of the petitioner is that since he was not given all retrial benefits, therefore, he served a notice for demand of justice (Annex. 6) on 31. 3. 2004, but since his grievance was not redressed by the respondents, hence this writ petition with the abovementioned prayer. Reply to the writ petition was filed by respondent No. 1 (Dist. And Sessions Judge, Jodhpur) admitting that the petitioner retired after attaining the age of superannuation w. e. f. 30. 11. 2003 through order dtd. 8. 9. 2003 (Annex. 1 ). It has further been averred in the reply that after retirement, the petitioner had been given the retirement benefits in respect of earned leave, GPF Amount and amount of State Insurance and therefore, to say that he was not paid any amount was wrong. On the point of pension, it has been submitted by the respondent No. 1 that the pension could only be given to a Government employee after he has submitted a no objection certificate/on due certificate and since the petitioner has failed to submit the no objection certificate/no due certificate, therefore, his pension was not finalised and for that the petitioner was himself responsible and not the Department. It has further been averred in the reply that since the petitioner has not handed over the charge of all the articles in the office of respondent No. 2 (Essential Commodities Court, Jodhpur), therefore, no objection certificate was not issued in favour of the petitioner and that is why the respondent No. 2 (Special Judge, Essential Commodities Act, Jodhpur) wrote a letter to the respondent No. 1 on 17. 6. 2002 (Annex. R/2) asking the petitioner to hand over remaining articles. It has further been submitted by the respondent No. 1 that even though the petitioner has not handed over the complete charge of the remaining articles, but even than the respondent No. 1 had prepared a note for granting provisional pension to the petitioner and the same was forwarded to the Joint Director, Pension and Pensioners Welfare Department, Jodhpur for issuing provisional pension to the petitioner vide letter dtd. 15. 5. 2004 (Annex. R/4) and hence no case is made out and the writ petition be dismissed. A reply was also filed by the respondent No. 2 of the similar nature and the reply of the respondent No. 2 is that the petitioner has not handed over the complete charge at the time when he was again transferred to office of respondent No. 1 (Dist. And Sessions Judge, Jodhpur) from the office of Special Judge, Essential Commodities Act, Jodhpur) and because of the fact, no objection certificate was not issued and hence no case is made out in favour of the petitioner and the writ petition be dismissed. A rejoinder was also filed by the petitioner to the reply filed by the respondents. Heard.
(3.) THERE is no dispute on the point that the petitioner retired from the services on 30. 11. 2003 and at the time of retirement no department enquiry was pending against him as is evident from the certificate dtd. 30. 11. 2003 (Annex. 5 ). There is also no dispute on the point that from a perusal of LPC dtd. 23. 10. 2001 (Annex. 3) issued by the respondent No. 2 (Special Judge, Essential Commodities Cases, Jodhpur), it is clear that when he was relieved from the officer of reader of respondent No. 2 (Special Judge, Essential Commodities Cases, Jodhpur) there was no due against the petitioner. There is also dispute on the point that that at the time of retirement, he handed over the charge of post of Sr. Munshrim through proceedings dtd. 27. 11. 2003 (Annex. 4 ). ;