Court No. - 6
Case :- WRIT - A No. - 8451 of 2021 Petitioner :- Prabhawati Devi Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- J.P.N. Singh Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.
Hon'ble Pankaj Bhatia,J.
Instructions filed today are taken on record.
Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned Standing Counsel for the State-respondents.
The present writ petition has been filed for the following reliefs:-
"a. Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of Certiorari quashing the impugned order dated 18.05.2020 passed by the Deputy Director of Education (Secondary) Azamgarh Region, Azamgarh.
b. Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of Mandamus directing the respondent Nos. 2 & 3 to pay the Family Pension of the petitioner w.e.f. 30.12.1986."
The brief contention of learned counsel for the petitioner is that the husband of the petitioner was a Lecturer in the respondent no. 4-College and retired from the said post on 4.8.1969 after attaining the age of superannuation. After the retirement, the husband of the petitioner received pension during the life time and it is claimed that he died on 29.11.1986. After the death of the husband of the petitioner, the petitioner applied for grant of family pension, however, as the same was not paid, the petitioner approached this Court by filing Writ Petition No. 627 of 2013 (Prabhawati Devi Vs. State of U.P. and others), which was disposed off vide order dated 8.1.2013 with direction to the respondent no. 2 to take a decision with regard to payment of family pension within a period of two months.
In terms of the said order passed by this Court, the respondent no. 2 rejected the application of the petitioner for grant of family pension vide order dated 3.4.2013. In the said order, which is on record as Annexure-7, reliance was placed on the Government Order dated 17.12.1965.
The said order dated 3.4.2013 was challenged by the petitioner before this Court in Writ Petition No. 65734 of 2013. In the said petition, a final order came to be passed on 26.4.2019, wherein this Court interpreted the Government Order dated 31st march, 1982 as well as the Clarificatory Government Order dated 16.6.1984 and placing reliance on another judgment of this Court in the case of Smt. Urmila Gupta Vs. State of U.P. and others, Writ Petition No. 54293 of 2014, decided on 23.4.2019 categorically held that the stand taken by the respondents in denying the family pension was not justified. This Court recorded in the order as under:-
"4. For the reasons recorded in the judgment of this Court in Smt. Urmila Gupta (supra), whereby the Government Order dated 31st March, 1982 and 16.6.1984 have been relied upon to grant relief of family pension to the employees covered under the Government Order dated 17.12.1965, this Court is of the considered view that claim of petitioner is also liable to succeed for the reasons and observations contained in the aforesaid judgment.
5. The Government Order of 31st March, 1982 as interpreted on 16.6.1984, is clearly attracted in the facts of the present case. Consequently, the order impugned dated 3rd April, 2013 cannot be sustained and is quashed. The writ petition stands disposed of with a direction upon the authority concerned to take a fresh decision with regard to the claim of the petitioner in the light of the observations made above, within a period of two months from the date of presentation of a certified copy of this order."
In terms of the order dated 26.4.2019, the respondent was directed to take a fresh decision. The respondents vide order dated 18.5.2020 has once again rejected the claim of the petitioner for grant of family pension once again placing reliance on the grounds which were set aside by this Court in the judgment dated 26.4.2019.
The submission of learned counsel for the petitioner is that once this Court had adjudicated the rights of the petitioner in the judgment dated 26.4.2019, the directions for taking fresh decision had to be confined to the computation of the pension alone and not to the substantive right and grant of family pension which stood adjudicated in the judgment dated 26.4.2019.
It is common ground that no special appeal was filed against the judgment dated 26.4.2019. As such, the same attained finality inter-se between the parties. The petitioner has also placed the judgment passed by this Court in the case of Smt. Urmila Gupta (Supra) as well as the judgment in the case of Smt. Jagmati Devi Vs. State of U.P. and others, Writ Petition No. 10861 of 2006, decided on 5.10.2009.
A perusal of the judgment passed in the case of the petitioner in the earlier round of litigation being judgment dated 26.4.2019 makes it clear that the Court considered the import of the Government Order dated 31st March, 1982 as well as Clarificatory Government Order dated 16.6.1984 and thus no further decision was required with regard to entitlement of the petitioner for grant of family pension and only the computation part has to be dealt with. The order dated 18th March, 2020 is clearly in the teeth of the directions and the findings of this Court given in the judgment dated 26.4.2019 and borders contempt.
In view of the fact that the matter has already been adjudicated by this Court on 26.4.2019, the order dated 18.5.2020 is not sustainable in the eye of law and is, accordingly, set aside with directions to the respondents to pay the family pension to the petitioner within a period of two months from the date of production of a copy of this order. The said family pension shall be paid to the petitioner from the date of death of the husband of the petitioner i.e. 29.12.1986 alongwith interest at the rate of 6% per annum to be calculated from 30th December, 1986 till date of payment/realization.
In view of the fact that the respondents have passed an order contrary to the mandate of this Court and have made the petitioner to suffer for no fault of her, the petitioner shall be entitled to a cost of Rs. 20,000/- for litigation before this Court only because of the arbitrary orders passed by the respondents.
The amounts as directed above including the cost of Rs. 20,000/- shall be paid to the petitioner within a period of two months from the date of production of a copy of this order before the respondent no. 2.
It is clarified that the directions for payment of pension would be that the respondent no. 2 shall only be entitled to compute the quantum of family pension to be paid to the petitioner.
The writ petition stands allowed in terms of the said order.
Copy of the order downloaded from the official website of this Court shall be treated/accepted as certified copy of this order.
Order Date :- 12.8.2021 S. Rahman