Government delays pension dues for retired officials despite CAT order

It took nine long months for the central government to implement the order of The Central Administrative Tribunal CAT Mumbai which directed the central government to clear the retirement emoluments and revise the pension of three retired senior officials of Dattopant Thengadi National Board for Workers Education and Development DTNBWED within three months from the orderrsquos passing in February 2023A contempt proceeding letter was also issued by their advocate and in response the department intimated that upon approval from the Ministry of Labour and Employment each of them would now receive approximately an addition of Rs 16 lakh towards retirement emoluments and an increased monthly pension of Rs 55000 plus including pension DA and medicalThe applicantsThe applicants include Mallikarjun Mathapati 63 Shivalingappa Sandimani 63 and Siddharth More 63According to them they were entitled to a pension based on their last pay or the average of the last ten months whichever was more advantageous to them as per Pension Rules 1972 and government instructions from time to timeYet to get letterMore is currently recovering after a major surgery and is still waiting for the letter from the department headquarters in Delhi More said ldquoMy two colleagues received letters informing them of the implementation of the CAT order The accounts department at the headquarters in Delhi confirmed that they dispatched my letter on October 10 through speed post but I am still waitingrdquo90 days to 9 monthsMore added ldquoI am pleased that the Ministry of Labour and Employment has acknowledged the CAT order However instead of the mandated 90 days for implementation it has now been nine months since the order was passedrdquo He continued ldquoI was going through a financial crisis It was only when our advocate Rajeshwar Panchal sent a letter to the department head suggesting we might file a contempt petition that we received a positive responserdquoIn the reply the department requested the advocate not to initiate contempt proceedings as the Ministry of Labour and Employment accepted the CAT order According to the revised letter received by two of my colleagues they can expect a lump sum of around additional Rs 16 lakh in retirement arrears and an increase in monthly pension to Rs 55000 plus including pension DA and medical charges starting from next monthDeteriorating healthSpeaking about his deteriorating health More added ldquoThis money means a lot especially considering Irsquove spent the last few months in and out of the hospital due to my poor health condition I had to spend nearly Rs 7 lakh and I am still recuperatingrdquoMoney not received yetMS Mathapati Regional Director retired from Belgaum shared ldquoI have received a letter informing me about the revised calculations of my arrear dues However the funds have not been transferred to my bank account yet The letter also mentions that the department may consider appealing the CAT order along with other conditions I hope that the revised pension will be implemented from the coming month NovemberrdquoAdvocate Rajeshwar PanchalThe caseAdvocate Rajeshwar Panchal who represented the retired employees explained ldquoThese three applicants approached me with grievances Consequently I filed three cases before the Central Administrative Tribunal CAT in Mumbai The Bench allowed their cases noting that similarly situated employees of the Board had already been granted similar reliefrdquoOther sidePanchal added ldquoIn fact the GOI and the Board opposed the case during the arguments before the CAT citing an order from the Jabalpur High Court This order was based on a judgment in the case of SS Dangi vs Union of India which I had handled before the Mumbai Bench seven to eight years ago Thankfully the Jabalpur High Court eventually on July 26 2022 vacated the stay and dismissed the governmentrsquos appeal against the Jabalpur Benchrsquos orderrdquoOrderRegarding the order Harvinder Kaur Oberoi Member J CAT Mumbai stated ldquoThe respondent had relied heavily on an interim stay granted by the Madhya Pradesh HC to deny pensionary benefits on the revised pay scale As the said petition has now been finally decided it is appropriate to direct the respondents to release the pensionary benefits to the applicants in accordance with the conditions set out by the Madhya Pradesh HC within three monthsrdquoAdvocate speakIn conclusion Panchal expressed I am very glad that the respondents have not forced us to file a petition for contempt Retiral dues of any public servant are property within the meaning of Article 300A of the Constitution However it is common for retired public servants especially senior citizens to be dragged to court even to get their retirement dues It may be late compliance but it means a lot for my clients who received nearly Rs 16 to 17 lakh towards the differential amount and will continue to receive a monthly pension at the revised rate which will be almost Rs 35000 exclusive of a 4037 commutation My clients have expressed their gratitude to me for the justice I could get for themRs 16lakhApprox additional amount the employees will now receive