SHAKUNTALA BANDAWALA Vs. STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present writ petition has been filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, invoking the extraordinary writ jurisdiction of this Court. The petitioner lays challenge to the impugned order dtd. 10/6/2022 passed by the respondents, whereby an amount of Rs.2,49,174.00 has been recovered from the retiral dues of the petitioner on allegations of misconduct and negligence.

(2.) The facts, as they emerge from the record, are that the petitioner was appointed to the post of Clerk in the respondent Department and was entrusted with the responsibility of managing the case journals of employees, including the preparation of lists of employees nearing superannuation. It is the case of the petitioner that an inquiry was initiated by respondent No.2 to ascertain the cause of delay in the superannuation of one employee, namely Premchand Soorajmal. A show-cause notice was issued on 5/6/2014, to which the petitioner submitted a reply on 9/6/2014. Subsequently, respondent No.3 proposed a departmental inquiry and issued another show-cause notice dtd. 30/12/2015 under Rule 9(2) of the Madhya Pradesh Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules. The petitioner submitted her reply to the same.

(3.) The petitioner attained the age of superannuation and retired on 30/6/2016. It is stated that as on the date of her superannuation, no departmental proceedings or inquiry were pending against her. Following her retirement, the petitioner was granted only 90% of her pension, and her retiral dues, including gratuity, GPF, and leave encashment, were withheld. After representations yielded no result, the petitioner preferred W.P. No.937/2022 before this Court. During the pendency of the said petition, the respondents issued the impugned order dtd. 10/6/2022, effecting a recovery of Rs.2,49,174.00 from her retiral benefits. Consequently, the earlier writ petition was withdrawn with liberty to file the instant petition challenging the final order of recovery.