Sunita Devi v. The State Of Bihar
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.18667 of 2021 ====================================================== Sunita Devi Widow of Late Janardan Prasad Mandal, Resident of Ward No.5, Locha Patam, Police Station Naya Ramnagar, District Munger. ... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
1.
The State of Bihar Ttrough the District Magistrate, Lakhisarai 2.
The District Education Officer, Lakhisarai.
3.
The District Treasury Officer, Munger.
4.
The Assistant General Manager, Centralized Pension Processing Centre, (04476), State Bank of India, Administrative Office Building, Judges Court Road, Patna 800001 E-mailsbi.04476@sbi.co.in. 5.
The Chief Manager, State Bank of India, Jamalpur Railway Colony, (O3597) Munger 811214.
6.
The State Bank of India through its General Manager, Bihar, Patna. ... ... Respondent/s ====================================================== Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s :
Mr. Santosh Kumar Sinha 2, Advocate For the Respondent/s :
Mr. Jitendra Kr. Roy 1, SC 13 Mr. Hitesh Kumar, AC to SC 13 ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE RAJIV ROY ORAL ORDER 18-05-2023 Heard the parties.
Pursuant to the last order of this Court, a counter affidavit on behalf of the District Education Officer, Lakhisarai (Respondent No. 2) has been filed after serving a copy upon the petitioner's counsel.
It is important to incorporate paragraph-7, 8 and 10 of the said counter affidavit which shows that so far as the State is concerned, steps were taken in 2015 itself and it is only due to the laxity on behalf of the Branch Manager, State Bank of India Jamalpur Branch, that no payment has been made.
7. That it is humbly submitted that the revised Gratuity payment order bearing PPO no.
Patna High Court CWJC No.18667 of 2021(5) dt.18-05-2023 2/3 442935G1 dated 15.10.2015 was issued from the office of the Accountant General, Bihar in favour of the petitioner. The copy of the same was received by the Treasury Officer, Munger and was forwarded vide letter no. 1600 dated 26.11.2015 to the Branch Manager, State Bank of India, Main Branch, Munger for further needful action.
8. That it is worth mentioning herein that the said bank is the drawing and disbursement authority of family pension and other retirement benefits to the petitioner. The due Gratuity amount has to be paid by the concerned branch of the State bank of India directly in the petitioner's bank account.
10. That it is submitted that the District Programme Officer, Establishment, Lakhisarai has vide letter no. 1379 dated 16.05.2023 informed the Branch Manager, State Bank of India, Railway Colony, Jamalpur to do the needful and file the Counter Affidavit on his behalf."
A perusal of letter no. 1379 dated 16.05.2023 issued by the District Programme Officer, Establishment, Lakhisarai addressed to the Branch Manager, State Bank of India, Jamalpur supports the submission put forward by the learned State Counsel.
The petition in the aforesaid background stands disposed of with a direction to the State Bank of India to take
Patna High Court CWJC No.18667 of 2021(5) dt.18-05-2023 3/3 immediate steps to clear the amount in the account of widow of Janardan Prasad Mandal within a period of seven days from today failing which the petitioner will be entitled to a cost of Rs. 10,000/- which will be paid by the Branch Manager himself from his own pocket.
If there is any lacuna in the document which is needed, the Branch Manager will meet the District Education Officer, Lakhisarai (Respondent No. 2) and/or the Senior Treasury Officer, Munger (Respondent No. 3) who shall cooperate so that the payment is made immediately. The petitioner is free to take recourse to legal remedy to demand interest from the Bank for sitting over the matter for last eight years.
Today, a counter affidavit on behalf of District Treasury Officer, Munger (Respondent No. 3) has also been filed in this case.
Let the same be kept on record.
The writ petition stands disposed of.
(Rajiv Roy, J) Neha/- U