Court No. - 6
Case :- WRIT - A No. - 5450 of 2021 Petitioner :- Kanti Devi Respondent :- Deputy Director Of Education (Secondary) And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Indra Raj Singh,Adarsh Singh Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.
Hon'ble Pankaj Bhatia,J.
The present petition has been filed seeking a direction upon the respondents to pay Gratuity to the petitioner, which remained unpaid.
The contention of the counsel for the petitioner is that the husband of the petitioner was initially appointed as Assistant Teacher on 01.07.1982 in intermediate college, however he died in harness on 05.05.2005 before reaching the age of 60 years of superannuation. The contention of the counsel for the petitioner is that in terms of the Government Order dated 16.9.2009, Clause 5, the petitioner is entitled to Gratuity. The contention of the respondents in the counter affidavit is that prior to the death of the husband of the petitioner, the option was not given for his retirement at the age of 60 years. Thus, the contention of the counsel for the petitioner is that the admitted case is that the petitioner died in harness prior to the date of superannuation at the age of 60 years. He relies upon a judgment of this Court in Writ-A No. 741 of 2019 (Smt. Sarvesh Kumari Vs. State of U.P. and Others), wherein the entire scope of the Government Order was considered.
Considering the fact that the issue is no more alive in view of the specific decision of this Court in Writ-A No. 741 of 2019 that the gratuity would be payable to the employees, who died while in service and following the same it is clear that the petitioner would be entitled for release of the gratuity payable in terms of the Government Order dated 16.9.2009.
Accordingly, the writ petition is allowed following the judgment of this Court in the case of Sarvesh Kumari (Supra). The petitioner shall be paid the gratuity to which the husband of the petitioner was entitled as expeditiously as possible, preferably within a period of three months from the date of filing of the application along with a copy of the order downloaded from the official website of this Court, which shall be treated as certified copy of this order.
Order Date :- 27.7.2021/S. Rahman