6 days ago
High Court Orders Interest for Delayed Retiral Benefits to Cop
Balwinder Singh was a police officer in Punjab who was dismissed shortly before he was due to retire.
This happened after a person escaped from police custody.
Singh was later reinstated and treated as retired from December 31, 2017.
A police inquiry found him innocent, and a trial court later acquitted him.
However, his pension money and gratuity were not paid for more than three years.
The delayed amount totaled about Rs 13.81 lakh.
Singh asked the court for interest because the payment was late.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court agreed that the delay was not his fault.
It ordered the authorities to pay 7% yearly interest on the delayed money.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered 7% annual interest on delayed pension arrears and gratuity owed to retired police officer Balwinder Singh.
Singh was dismissed 14 days before retirement in December 2017 after an accused escaped from custody at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, Amritsar.
He was reinstated in April 2018 with consequential benefits and was later found innocent in a departmental inquiry and acquitted in the criminal case.
His pension arrears of Rs 3.81 lakh and gratuity of Rs 10 lakh were released only on November 1, 2021, after more than three years.
The authorities must pay interest from June 2018 until the payment date within two months of the court’s order.
- Who
- Retired Punjab Police officer Balwinder Singh, the Punjab authorities, and the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
- What
- The court ordered 7% annual interest on delayed pension arrears and gratuity totaling Rs 13.81 lakh.
- Where
- Punjab, with the case heard by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
- When
- The benefits were released on November 1, 2021; interest must be calculated from June 2018 until payment, under the court’s September 11 order.
- Why
- The court found that the delay was not caused by Singh, who had been reinstated, found innocent in a departmental inquiry, and acquitted in the criminal case.
Officer’s Position
Authorities’ Position
Reason for delayed payment
Officer’s Position
Singh argued that the substantial delay in releasing his pension arrears and gratuity entitled him to interest, and sought 18% annual interest.
Authorities’ Position
The Additional Advocate General argued that the delay resulted from the pending criminal case and was not intentional.
Responsibility for the delay
Officer’s Position
Singh maintained that he had been reinstated, found innocent in the departmental inquiry, and later acquitted, so the delay was not attributable to him.
Authorities’ Position
The authorities relied on the pending criminal proceedings as the reason the retirement benefits were not released earlier.
Court’s resolution
Officer’s Position
The court held that Singh could not be deprived of interest because the delay was not his fault and ordered 7% annual interest.
Authorities’ Position
The court did not grant the requested 18% rate, instead setting interest at 7% per year.
Key facts
- Officer
- Balwinder Singh, a retired Punjab Police officer
- Total delayed benefits
- Rs 13.81 lakh
- Pension arrears
- Rs 3.81 lakh
- Gratuity
- Rs 10 lakh
- Interest ordered
- 7% per annum
- Interest period
- From June 2018 until the actual payment date
- Payment deadline
- Within two months of the court’s order
Quotes
Justice Namit Kumar
Punjab and Haryana High Court judge hearing Balwinder Singh’s petition
“The delay in release of the retiral dues cannot be attributed to any fault or omission on the part of the petitioner (police official), and he is, therefore, entitled to interest on the delayed payments of arrears of pension and gratuity.”
indianexpress.com
Sources
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