SHANTI BHANDARI Vs. STATE OF UTTARAKHAND & OTHERS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Mr. Kishore Kumar, Advocate holding brief of Mr. M.C. Pant, Advocate, for the petitioner.

(2.) Mr. B.P.S. Mer, learned Brief Holder, for the State of Uttarakhand.

(3.) The husband of the petitioner was a Class-IVth employee in the Forest Department. As per the service record of the husband of the petitioner as admitted by the respondent authorities, the husband of the petitioner was appointed as "Van Daroga" in the Forest Department on 15.04.1985. Consequently due to illness, he sought voluntary retirement which was sanctioned by the department on 25.04.2005 and he was given voluntary retirement from service on 30.04.2005. Thereafter, as per the scheme of voluntary retirement he was given his GPF and other benefits. Meanwhile, the husband of the petitioner passed away on 13.11.2005. The respondents thereafter failed in their commitment inasmuch as the entire benefits which is liable to be given to the husband of the petitioner subsequent to his voluntary retirement which were duly sanctioned by the respondent authorities. The reason assigned by the department is that the sanction for voluntary retirement was wrongly given to the husband of the petitioner for which there are two mandatory conditions that the employee must fulfill. Firstly, he must put in twenty years of service and secondly he should be 45 years of age. When the husband of the petitioner died on 13.11.2005, he had crossed 38 years of age, though he had not put in 20 years of service, as per the respondents he was inducted in service, when he was 18 years of age and his service meanwhile would only be counted from 15.04.1985 (i.e. the date of appointment) and he has applied for the voluntary retirement on 12.01.2005 which is before the completion of 20 years of satisfactory service. It is also stated in the counter affidavit that petitioner did not attained the age of 45 years as well. These conditions are contained in Rule 56 (c) of Financial Hand Book Vol. II (Parts II to IV) which reads as under:-