STATE OF KERALA AND OTHERS Vs. ABRAHAM THOMAS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) A retired government official is sensitive to delay in drawing monetary benefits. Posthumous satisfaction of the pecuniary expectation of the superannuated public servant shall always be avoided (State of Mysore v. C.R. Sehadri, AIR 1974 SC 460 .

(2.) The appeal arises from the judgment dated 31.01.2017 passed by a learned Single Judge of this Court in W.P.(C) No.26590 of 2010.

(3.) The appellants are the the State of Kerala and others who are the respondents in the writ petition. The respondent in the appeal is the writ petitioner. He had retired from service on 30.6.1997 as Head of the Department of Chemistry from a private college. The Government issued Ext.P1 order dated 25.11.1998, revising the pensionary benefits of the State Service Pensioners. As per Clause 23 of Ext.P1, the order has been made applicable to college teachers who come under the UGC scales of pay also. Clause 18 of Ext.P1 order provided for payment of arrears of pensionary benefits in instalments and it also provided that interest as applicable to General Provident Fund shall be paid on the arrears from the date of authorisation of revised DCRG and commutation. Pursuant to Ext.P1 order, arrears of DCRG and commuted pension were paid to the respondent on 25.9.2002 and the arrears of revised pension were paid to him on 8.10.2002 but no interest was paid. The respondent made Ext.P2 representation dated 28.9.2002 to the Accountant General for sanctioning interest on the arrears of gratuity and pension commutation. He filed O.P.No.34351/2002 before this Court for issuing a direction to the Government to pay him the interest on the arrears. As per Ext.P3 judgment dated 26.3.2008 in O.P.No.34351/2002, this Court directed the Accountant General to consider Ext.P2 representation submitted by the respondent in terms of Clause 18 of Ext.P1 order and to pass appropriate orders. The Accountant General sent Ext.P4 letter dated 16.02.2009 to the Government stating that he is not competent to disburse the interest and action may be taken by the Government on the basis of the judgment of this Court. The Accountant General also sent Ext.P5 reminder dated 31.07.2009 to the Government. As per Ext.P6 letter dated 19.12.2009, the Director of Collegiate Education sent two demand drafts, one for Rs. 850/- and other for Rs. 2062/-, to the respondent towards payment of the amount of interest. Challenging Ext.P6, the respondent filed W.P.(C) No.26590 of 2010 before this Court seeking the following reliefs: