PRAMATH PATNAIK, J. - (1.) IN the accompanied writ application, the petitioner has inter alia, prayed for issuance of direction upon the respondents to fix and pay final pension and remaining 10 % gratuity and to further pay leave encashment of Earned Leave for 300 days as well as to pay the 2nd installment of arrears of 6th Pay revision with effect from 01.01.2006 to 31.03.2007 and to pay interest on the delayed payment of General Provident Fund, G.I.C. and on 90 % gratuity @ 18 % per annum from the date of superannuation i.e. 31.05.2012 till the actual payment.
(2.) THE factual matrix, bereft of unnecessary details, in a nutshell is that the petitioner was appointed on 23.07.1974 as Assistant in the office of learned Advocate General, Government of Bihar and after rendering about 38 years of meritorious and unblemished service was superannuated from the post of Under Secretary, Law Department, Government of Jharkhand on 31.05.2012 on attaining the age of superannuation. It has been stated in the writ petition that soon after his retirement though he was paid 90 % of provisional pension but he has not been paid the remaining 10 % of pension till filing of the writ petition. It has further been stated that Last Pay Certificate was issued on 15.06.2012 (Annexure 3), which goes to show that 2nd installment of arrears of 6th Pay Revision w.e.f. 01.01.2006 to 31.3.2007 has not been paid, hence, the petitioner is entitled for payment of interest @ 18 % per annum from the date of superannuation till the date of actual payment. It has further been stated that 'No Objection Certificate' vide Memo No. 2550 dated 30.09.2013 (Annexure 4) was issued in favour of the petitioner showing that there are no dues against the petitioner. So far as encashment of Earned Leave for 300 days is concerned, it has been stated that in spite of letter of Account General issued vide Memo No. 1257 dated 10.12.2013 (Annexure 5), the same has not been paid to the petitioner till filing of the instant writ application, for the reasons best known to the respondents. In this regard, it has been stated that without considering the letter as contained in Memo No. 1257 dated 10.12.2013, the Under Secretary, Law Department forwarded the pension papers and original Service Book of the petitioner to the Accountant General for payment of earned leave encashment vide Memo No. 3063 dated 16.12.2013. So far as G.P.F is concerned, the same is stated to have been paid after lapse of three months without paying any interest on the delayed payment and G.I.C has been paid after lapse of five months and on that also no interest has been paid. Lastly, it has been submitted that even 90 % gratuity has been paid after lapse of eight months of superannuation without assigning any reason and on that also no statutory interest has been paid to the petitioner. The petitioner, thereafter, submitted representations (Annexure 7 series) before the respondents for payment of final pension, remaining 10 % gratuity, encashment of 300 days Earned Leave, 2nd installment of 6th pay revision and also for interest on the delayed payment of G.P.F, G.I.C. and 90 % gratuity, which have fallen on deaf ears.
(3.) DURING pendency of the writ petition, the affidavit has been filed by the petitioner by way of filing supplementary affidavit dated 12.03.2015 annexing therewith a chart (Annexure 12), which shows that all the outstanding retiral dues has been paid to the petitioner, but after some delay, against which the petitioner is claiming interest. For ready reference, the relevant portion of the chart is reproduced herein below: JUDGEMENT_84_LAWS(JHAR)3_2015.htm Per contra, learned counsel for the respondent nos. 2 and 3 has filed the counter affidavit controverting the averments made in the writ application. In the counter affidavit filed on behalf of respondent nos. 2 and 3, it has been stated that the petitioner retired on 31.05.2012 from the post of Under Secretary, Law Department (Judicial Department) and at that time, the service book of the petitioner was lying with the Department of Personnel for confirmation of A.C.P given to the petitioner. It has been stated that due to non -availability of the service book, the benefit of provisional pension and provisional gratuity was given to the petitioner. Besides that the petitioner was given the amount of G.I.S. on 8.10.2012, as per the information furnished by the petitioner on 28.09.2012. It has further been stated that the service book of the petitioner was received in the Law (Judicial) Department from Department of Personnel on 06.09.2013 and after making entry regarding provision pension and gratuity, the departmental no dues certificate was issued in favour of the petitioner and service book of the petitioner was sent to the Accountant General for further course of action, as revealed from Annexures D and E of the Counter affidavit. Pursuant thereto, the office of Accountant General vide Memo No. 2770 dated 02.11.2013 was requested to furnish information regarding leave account of the petitioner so that process of leave encashment could be completed. It has further been stated that in compliance of direction as contained in memo no. 1153 dated 19.11.2013 of the Accountant General, the Law (Judicial) Department issued Last Pay Certificate of the petitioner and request was made to the Accountant to release final pension and gratuity of the petitioner, as per Annexure F, G and H of the Counter affidavit. Again, in compliance of direction of Accountant General necessary information as well as request for leave encashment in favour of petitioner was made to the Accountant General, vide Memo No. 1256 dated 10.12.2013 under Annexure -I to this counter affidavit. It has been submitted that from the above -mentioned facts, it is clear that the Department of Law (Judicial) has taken utmost care for early release of pension to the petitioner but due to unavailability of the service book as well as the official paraphernalia, it took time in finalization of the pension of the petitioner. Hence, the petitioner is not entitled for the interest, as claimed by the petitioner.;