IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY,
NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR
LD-VC-CW-665 OF 2020
Shri Naini Gopal S/o Dhirendra Mohan Roy,
Aged About 85 Years, Occupation – Pensioner,
R/o F-37/B, Central Railway Colony,
Ajni, Nagpur-440 003.
… Petitioner
Versus
- The Union of India,
Ministry of Defence,
Through its Secretary,
New Delhi. - The Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Pension),
Office of Principal Controller of Defence Accounts,
Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh-211 014. - The General Manager,
State Bank of India,
Centralized Pension Processing Centre,
5th Floor, Premises No.T-651 and T-751,
I.T.C. Belapur, CBD Belapur Railway Station Complex,
Navi Mumbai-400 0614. - The General Manager,
Ordnance Factory,
Bhandara.
… Respondents
Shri S.S. Sharma, Advocate for Petitioner.
Smt. Sushma, Advocate for Respondent Nos.1, 2 and 4.
Shri M. Anilkumar, Advocate for Respondent No.3.
CORAM : R.K. DESHPANDE & N.B. SURYAWANSHI, JJ.
Date of Reserving the Judgment : 13th August, 2020
Date of Pronouncing the Judgment : 20th August, 2020
JUDGMENT (Per R.K. DESHPANDE, J.) :
1. Notice for final disposal of the matter was issued by this Court on 30-7-20208 and the parties were heard finally by consent. Hence, Rule. The petition is being disposed of finally.
2. The petitioner Naini Gopal S/o Dhirendra Mohan Roy is retired as an Assistant Foreman from the Ordnance Factory at Bhandara with effect from 1-10-1994. The last drawn basic salary of the petitioner was Rs.2,675/- and the basic pension was fixed at Rs.1,334/- as on 1-10-1994. Consequent upon increase in the pension and the dearness allowance as per the recommendations of the 5th, 6th and 7th Pay Commissions, the basic pension of Rs.25,634/- was fixed, for which the petitioner was entitled to and accordingly he was paid.
3. In the month of August 2019, the basic pension amount of the petitioner was reduced from Rs.25,634/- to Rs.25,250/- with effect from 1-1-2016 and accordingly, the respondent No.3- the Centralized Pension Processing Centre of the State Bank of India, directed recovery of an amount of Rs.3,69,035/- from the pension payable to the petitioner in the installments of Rs.11,400/-, i.e. 1/3rd of the monthly pension with effect from 1-8-2019. The deduction of pension was without the consent or knowledge of the petitioner and, therefore, the petitioner filed an application under the Right to Information Act, 2005 on 1-9-2019 to know the reason for deduction and details as to the revision of pension during the period 2015-16 and 2016-17. In response to this application, the petitioner received the reply on 20-9-2019 from the respondent No.3 informing that there was excess payment of pension of Rs.3,69,035/- to the petitioner, which was discovered after making the revised calculations.
4. The petitioner has, therefore, approached this Court challenging such action and seeking further direction to the respondents to restore the position in respect of payment of pension, prevailing prior to the deduction which commenced from 1-8-2019. Reliance is placed upon the communication dated 4-12-2019 at Annexure-Q to the petition, issued by the Accounts Officer of the employer stating that the pension at the rate of Rs.26,000/- was correctly notified vide 7th CPC PPO No.401199400151 (0101).
5. Initially, we heard the matter on 30-7-2020, when the following order was passed :
“Hearing was conducted through Video Conferencing and the learned Counsel for the parties agreed that the audio and visual quality was proper.
2) Issue notice for final disposal of the matter, returnable on 10/8/2020.
3) Smt. Sushma, learned Counsel waives service of notice for respondent nos.1, 2 and 4.
4) We have seen the impugned order dated 14/11/2019 issued by the State Bank of India. We are anxious to know as to whether the State Bank of India has acted on its own or on the basis of instructions issued by any other respondent in the matter. If we find that the action of the Bank is without any authority, we will have to impose heavy costs upon the Bank. Apart from this, if the amount is lying with the personal account of the petitioner, we are also surprised to note as to how the Bank is preventing or not permitting the petitioner to withdraw the amount. If any recovery is to be made, it will be open for the employer to make the same in accordance with law.
5) This order be communicated to the learned Counsel appearing for the parties, either on the e-mail address or on WhatsApp or by such other mode, as is permissible in law.”
6. We were under an impression that the respondent No.3- State Bank of India, Medical College Area, Branch Nagpur, where the petitioner holds the pension account No.10387387888, must have acted on the basis of the instructions issued by the employer of the petitioner. Therefore, we passed an order stating that we are anxious to know as to whether the State Bank of India has acted on its own or on the basis of the instructions issued by the other respondents in the matter. Obviously, the employer is the party-respondent in this petition. We further made it clear that if we find that the action of the Bank is without any authority, we will have to impose heavy costs upon the Bank. It was also expressed that if the amount is lying with in personal account of the petitioner, how the Bank is preventing or not permitting the petitioner to withdraw the amount. If the recovery is to be made, it is open for the employer to make the same in accordance with law.
7. In response to this petition, the employer, who is the respondent No.4- the General Manager, Ordnance Factory, Bhandara, has filed an affidavit taking the stand in Paras 1 to 5 as under :
“1. It is humbly submitted that the details of the Petitioner regarding service particulars, retirement date (as stated in the W.P.) are correct as per record.
2. It is humbly submitted that the Respondent No.02 i.e. the PCDA(P), Allahabad has issued revised PPO No.401199400151 (PPO Suffix 0199) (Copy enclosed as Annexure-R/1) dated 08/01/2018 in respect of the Petitioner, Ex Asstt. Foreman, O.F. Bhandara. Revised pension under the said PPO was Rs.25250/- (w.e.f. 01/01/2016) per month.
3. It is humbly submitted that the Respondent No.02 has Suo-moto revised the above said PPO vide PPO No.401199400151 (PPO Suffix 0101) (Copy enclosed as Annexure-R/2) on the basis of Circular No.C-202 dated 06/08/2019 (Copy enclosed as Annexure-R/3) and the pension was fixed to Rs.26,000/- (w.e.f. 01/01/2016).
4. It is humbly submitted that the PPOs are being sent by the Respondent No.02 to Respondent No.03 directly through email.
5. It is humbly submitted that the Respondent No.04 has not issued any order for recovery of any amount from the pension of the Petitioner.”
We have also perused Annexure-Q, which is the communication dated 4-12-2019 by the Accounts Officer from the office of the respondent No.4- employer stating that the pension at the rate of Rs.26,000/- has been correctly notified.
