Punjab and Haryana HC censures agri board for delayed pensionary benefits to former engineer

The Punjab and Haryana high court has asked Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board, Panchkula, to release the withheld amount of the retirement benefits of a former sub-divisional engineer along with 6% interest, within a month.

The high court acted on the plea of one Shashi Kant Mangla, who had retired in 2016 and whose pensionary benefits were withheld on account of a charge sheet pending against him. After the high court’s intervention, all other benefits were released in 2018, but an amount of Rs 1.5 lakh was withheld on account of recovery. Mangla challenged this decision before the court.

The high court observed that the chief administrator in October 2018 had calculated the actual loss at Rs 3.36 lakh and the recovery amount at Rs 1.48 lakh but later it was reduced to Rs 59,570 due to ‘wrong calculation’ on the board’s part.

“This clearly reflects the level of application of mind by the board at each stage,” the bench of justice Sanjay Kumar observed, adding that Mangla’s pension was withheld even as no disciplinary proceedings were pending against him on the date of retirement.

The court has not only directed release of the withheld amount but has asked the board to pay 6% interest from his retirement on November 1, 2016, till the date of actual payment.

It had come to light before the court that the former engineer was issued a charge sheet in July 2013. However, in November 2014, the inquiry officer had given him a clean chit. No action was taken on the issue until his retirement.

But after he approached the court in September 2018, the board sought his objections on the inquiry report of 2014. Further, the court also noted that the board had recovered all its dues from the contractor as an arbitration award in the case where the petitioner was issued a charge sheet.

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