UNION OF INDIA Vs. LAXMI DEVI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) DISMISSED as withdrawn because we do not find any delay in preferring the writ petition. 1. Late Ram Saran, a railway employee, was declared medically unfit on March 15, 2002. He was sitting in his house on medical leave when he died on June 16, 2002, a fact which was not within the knowledge of the Competent Authority, resulting in the Competent Authority passing an order on July 04, 2002 retiring Ram Saran from service (on being declared medically unfit) and sanctioning such pension as would be payable to him upon being retired on medical grounds. Since Ram Saran had been allotted, on license, a railway quarter, and since the Rules permitted an employee, retired on medical grounds, to retain the quarter on the normal license fee for four months and for another four months thereafter on double the license fee, an order was passed permitting Ram Saran to continue to occupy the quarter allotted on license for another eight months. But, the gratuity and other retiral dues were not released.

(2.) WHEN information was received by the department that Ram Saran had died on June 16, 2002, the order retiring him on medical grounds issued on July 04, 2002 was withdrawn, for the obvious reason a dead employee cannot be retired from service.

(3.) THERE was utter confusion because a part of the file continued to be processed as if Ram Saran had been retired on medical grounds and a part treating him as having died. The result was the respondent not receiving the gratuity and other terminal dues, nor a family pension. To rub salt in her wounds, the department raised a demand of about 3.25 lakhs against her on account of unauthorized occupation of the quarter allotted till December 15, 2006. The reason for limiting the demand towards unauthorised occupation till December 15, 2006 was respondent's son being given employment in the Railways on December 16, 2006 and simultaneously the quarter being allotted to respondent's son.