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2004 DIGILAW 366 (ORI)

Dhaneswar Pattanaik v. State of Orissa

2004-08-16

A.S.NAIDU

body2004
JUDGMENT A. S. NAIDU, J. — The petitioner is a retired employee of Puri Municipality. After serving the said Municipality during the best part of his life, he retired from service on 31.7.1994 on attain¬ing the age of superannuation. He is neither litigation-minded nor litigation is his hobby, but then the inaction of the author¬ities has thrust upon him litigation which he has to prosecute willy nilly. 2. The petitioner has approached this Court being ag¬grieved by the order dated 9.11.1998, Annexure-3, passed by the Executive Officer, Puri Municipality, opposite party No. 4, disposing of the representations filed by the petitioner for payment of his G.P.F. dues. It is stated that while the petitioner was working as an employee under the Municipality, the authorities deducted substantial amount from his salary month after month towards his GPF Account, but surprisingly the amount so deducted were not credited with the concerned authority. Although the petitioner requested the authorities several times to intimate him his GPF A/c number, they maintained stony si¬lence. After retirement of the petitioner in 1994 also the au¬thorities have taken absolutely no steps till today for disburse¬ment of the amount he is entitled to receive towards GPF dues. Being an aged man the petitioner was made to run from pillar to post for his purpose and then was constrained to approach the portals of this Court by filing a writ application, i.e., OJC No. 6635 of 1998 praying to direct the authorities to disburse his GPF dues as also his pension. The said writ application was disposed of by this Court on 29.6.1998 directing the Municipality to dispose of the representations filed by the petitioner for payment of his pension and disbursement of the amount outstanding in his GPF account. In consonance with the said direction, the authorities disposed of the representations filed by the peti¬tioner vide Annexure-3 stating that though Rule 17 of the Orissa Local Fund Service Rules, 1975 provides G.P.F. benefit to the L.F.S. employees, no rules or modalities for payment have yet been framed by Government. It was also stated that the claim of the petitioner should be settled in consonance with the Govern¬ment instructions issued vide letter No. 11256/HUD dated 4.4.1997 and final settlement will be made soon after framing of G.P.F. Rules for Municipal Employees by Government. 3. It was also stated that the claim of the petitioner should be settled in consonance with the Govern¬ment instructions issued vide letter No. 11256/HUD dated 4.4.1997 and final settlement will be made soon after framing of G.P.F. Rules for Municipal Employees by Government. 3. After receiving the notice, a detailed counter affida¬vit has been filed on behalf of the Puri Municipality. It is admitted that some amounts were deducted from the salary of the petitioner each month towards GPF, but then in consonance with the Government instruction the same was deposited in Savings Bank Account. It is averred that Government has not yet framed the rules in consonance with Rule 17 of the O.L.F. Service Rules, 1975 and as such the Municipality is not in a position to pay the GPF dues to the petitioner. The specific assertion of the peti¬tioner in Para-10 of the writ application that some other employ¬ees of the Municipality similarly placed like the petitioner, Sri Rama Chandra Pujapanda and Sri Gopinath Mohapatra, have been paid their GPF dues after retirement has not been specifically denied in the counter affidavit. In absence of such special denial, applying the principle of non-traverse it should be presumed that the aforesaid assertion of the petitioner is correct. 4. I have heard learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned counsel for the opposite parties patiently, gone through the pleadings of the parties carefully, considered the submis¬sions diligently and examined the materials available on record meticulously. Admittedly the petitioner is an erstwhile employee of Puri Municipality. He retired from service in 1994 on attaining the age of superannuation. Pension and GPF dues of a retired employee are no more considered as bounty of the State. It is the bounden duty of the employer to disburse the retirement dues including pension and GPF amount as expeditiously as possible without making any delay whatsoever. Non-payment of such dues of a re¬tired employee would certainly cause prejudice and unsurmountable hardship to him. According to the service rules certain amount is liable to be deducted from the employee’s salary towards GPF. It should be the duty of the authorities to credit the said amount in the GPF account of the employee concerned so as to enable him to receive the same after his retirement. The scheme is a benefi¬cial one and is not to be frustrated any way. It should be the duty of the authorities to credit the said amount in the GPF account of the employee concerned so as to enable him to receive the same after his retirement. The scheme is a benefi¬cial one and is not to be frustrated any way. As a matter of fact the Municipality has paid the GPF dues to some of its employees similarly placed like the petitioner, namely, Sri Ramachandra Pujapanda and Shri Gopinath Mohapatra, as specifically asserted by the petitioner in para-10 of the writ petition, and not con¬troverted in the counter affidavit. In the aforesaid scenario, I have no hesitation to direct the opposite parties to pay the GPF dues of the petitioner as has been done in the cases of aforesaid Sri Rama Chandra Pujapanda and Sri Gopinath Mohapatra by main¬taining parity. The GPF dues of the petitioner shall be paid to him within six months from the date of receipt of this order. Before concluding, I also direct the State Government to take expeditious steps to frame the rules as contemplated under Rule 17 of the L.F.S. Rules if the same has not been done yet. With the aforesaid direction/observation the writ applica¬tion is disposed of. Application disposed of.