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2004 DIGILAW 942 (PNJ)

Narotam Dass Mehta v. State Of Punjab

2004-08-24

HARJIT SINGH BEDI, J.S.NARANG

body2004
Judgment H.S.Bedi, J. 1. C.M. is allowed. Replication alongwith Annexures P-5 to P-8 is taken on record.C.W.P. No. 19597 of 2003. The petitioner retired on superannuation on February 28, 2003 after putting in about 35 years of service with the respondents. It is his case that at the time of retirement, no charge-sheet or enquiry of any kind was pending against him. Since the retiral benefits were not being paid to the petitioner, he filed the present writ petition on December 15, 2003. 2. It appears that on receiving notice of the writ petition the respondents issued a notice of the petition proposing disciplinary action for pecuniary loss of more than Rs. 30 lacs allegedly caused by the petitioner and it has now been urged that as this amount was due from him, the retiral benefits had been rightly withheld. 3. It is, however, the admitted position that the petitioner had filed a detailed reply to the notice issued to him on which the proceedings aforesaid have been dropped vide order dated July 14, 2004. 4. On these facts Mr. Sidhu now states that entire retiral benefits would be paid to the petitioner within two weeks from today. 5. It appears from the record that the stand in the written statement that disciplinary proceedings for pecuniary loss were pending at the time of the retirement of the petitioner was totally erroneous. 6. We, accordingly, direct that the respondents shall pay within two weeks the retiral benefits due to the petitioner. We also impose Rs. 10,000/- as costs to be recovered from Mr. H.S. Sidhu, Joint Director, Food & Supplies, Punjab who has filed the written statement giving wrong/incorrect facts.