UNION OF INDIA Vs. AKHILA UMESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Union of India and its officers have filed this Original Petition challenging the order dated 2.8.2018 in O.A.No.49/2017 on the file of the Central Administrative Tribunal, Ernakulam Bench. That Original Application was filed by the present respondent/applicant before the Tribunal challenging a communication dated 10.01.2017 through which it was informed that a sum of Rs.1,41,332/- will be recovered from her on account of House Rent Allowance (HRA) claimed for which she was not eligible.

(2.) There is no dispute that the HRA paid to the respondent/applicant before the Tribunal which was sought to be recovered was not so payable for the period in question. The question is whether the said amount should be recovered as it is also not disputed that the applicant had not purposefully given any false information on the basis of which she was paid HRA by the Department. At the time of employment, the applicant was residing with her mother, who is a Government servant and had been allotted Government accommodation. When the respondent requested for a change of address following her marriage, the Department found that it had wrongly paid HRA in spite of the fact that the respondent was at that time staying along with her mother in Government allotted quarters.

(3.) The Tribunal has decided the matter relying on the judgment of the Supreme Court in State of Punjab and others v. Rafiq Masih (White Washer), 2015 4 SCC 334. The Department took the contention based on the ratio of Chandi Prasad Uniyal and others v. State of Uttarakhand and others, 2012 8 SCC 417, that any amount paid/received without the authority of law can always be recovered barring cases where recovery would cause extreme hardship. It is admitted before us that a substantial amount has already been recovered from the respondent since the Tribunal had originally permitted the recovery to continue subject of course to the final result of the Original Application. The Tribunal has, therefore, while quashing the entire recovery proceedings, directed refund of the amount already recovered.