Badrinath Kanhu Pawar v. The State Of Maharashtra Through Its Secretary And Others
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
BENCH AT AURANGABAD 919 WRIT PETITION NO.3320 OF 2023 Shaikh Amir Shaikh Kadar AND 920 WRIT PETITION NO.3323 OF 2023 Ananda Sitaram Nikumbhe AND WRIT PETITION NO.3341 OF 2023 Rajendra Yuvraj Patil AND WRIT PETITION NO.3342 OF 2023 Hiralal Bajirao Bhalekar AND WRIT PETITION NO.3333 OF 2023 Indubai Sevanand Thakur AND WRIT PETITION NO.3334 OF 2023 Gulabrao Narayan Pawar AND
-2WRIT PETITION NO.3336 OF 2023 Milind Kashinath Chavan AND WRIT PETITION NO.3339 OF 2023 Sunita Siddharth Bagul Alias Bebibai Bhuta Bhamre AND WRIT PETITION NO.3324 OF 2023 Dinkar Mango Bahiram AND WRIT PETITION NO.3340 OF 2023 Shankarsing Ramsing Rajput .....
AND WRIT PETITION NO.3356 OF 2023 Lata Devidas Dusane Alias Golhare AND WRIT PETITION NO.3357 OF 2023 Prakash Kashiram Rathod AND WRIT PETITION NO.3361 OF 2023 Rajendra Muralidhar Bramhankar
-3AND WRIT PETITION NO.3335 OF 2023 Gokul Vitthal Sonawane AND WRIT PETITION NO.3337 OF 2023 Sugandha Narayan Badge Alias Sugandha Rajendra Mahire AND WRIT PETITION NO.3332 OF 2023 Vijaysing Bhimsing Shinde AND WRIT PETITION NO.3325 OF 2023 Prakash Sitaram Nikumbhe AND WRIT PETITION NO.3344 OF 2023 Sindhu Gulabrao Ambhore AND WRIT PETITION NO.3327 OF 2023 Ujawala Murlidhar Vispute AND WRIT PETITION NO.3326 OF 2023
-4Hanumant Sahadu Mokale AND WRIT PETITION NO.3329 OF 2023 Mangala Balkrushna Wani AND WRIT PETITION NO.3330 OF 2023 Bhikan Daulat Patil .....
AND WRIT PETITION NO.3331 OF 2023 Madhavrao Tulshiram Deore .....
AND WRIT PETITION NO.3338 OF 2023 Dilip Dhana Sonawane .....
AND WRIT PETITION NO.3343 OF 2023 Sunita Siddharth Bagul Alias Bebibai Bhuta Bhamre .....
AND WRIT PETITION NO.3328 OF 2023 Sunit Sakharam More
-5AND WRIT PETITION NO.3351 OF 2023 Sushila Vasant Chaudhari .....
AND WRIT PETITION NO.3347 OF 2023 Shaikh Aslam Shaikh Isa Sikalkar .....
AND WRIT PETITION NO.3355 OF 2023 Sayarabi Shabbirkha Tadavi .....
AND WRIT PETITION NO.3346 OF 2023 Nazima Sardar Tadavi .....
AND WRIT PETITION NO.3345 OF 2023 Sunanda Shriram Kumawat .....
AND WRIT PETITION NO.3358 OF 2023 Shankar Vedu More AND WRIT PETITION NO.3359 OF 2023 Badrinath Kanhu Pawar
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AND WRIT PETITION NO.3348 OF 2023 Atmaram Premraj Ahire .....
AND WRIT PETITION NO.3353 OF 2023 Vandana Ashok Rajput .....
AND WRIT PETITION NO.3360 OF 2023 Mandakini Anil Lindayat .....
AND WRIT PETITION NO.3350 OF 2023 Manorama Sudhakar Sali AND WRIT PETITION NO.3354 OF 2023 Aruna Bhaskar Patil .....
AND WRIT PETITION NO.3349 OF 2023 Kalabai Murlidhar Shinde AND
-7928 WRIT PETITION NO.3364 OF 2023 Arabkha Amirkha Tadavi Advocates for Petitioners" Mr. Yogesh B. Bolkar and Mr. S. B. Sontakke, in respective petitions Mr. A.G.P. for Respondent/State Authorities: Mr. S. K. Tambe Advocates for Zilla Parishad : Mr. S. R. Dheple and Mr. N.E. Deshmukh (in respective matters) .....
CORAM : RAVINDRA V. GHUGE AND SANJAY A. DESHMUKH, JJ.
DATED : 23rd MARCH, 2023.
PER COURT :- 1.
In all these matters, the Petitioners claim to be identically placed. The learned advocates representing the Zilla Parishad, agree.
2.
Amongst these Petitioners, there are some widows who have filed the Petitions. All the original employees were working with the respective Zilla Parishads and superannuated from employment. All of them were subjected to recovery of amounts, purportedly for the reason that excess amounts were paid to them, under wrongful revised pay scales/erroneous revised pay scales on the basis of acquiring the certificate of MS-CIT etc. These pay scales were revised more than a decade ago.
3.
The grievance of these Petitioners is that recoveries
-8have been initiated against them, from their retiral benefits/pensionary benefits. In some cases, amounts have already been recovered. A chart showing the details of the petitioners, their dates of superannuation, dates of impugned orders and amounts recovered from their retiral benefits/pensionary benefits, are as under:- Sr.
No.
WP Nos.
Name of the Petitioners Date of superannuation Date of Impugned Amount Recovered Order from the petitioners 3320/2023 Saikh Amir Shaikh Kadar 30.06.2021 21.03.2022 2,14,884.00 3364/2023 Arabkha Amirkha Tadavi 31.12.2015 21.07.2017 3,30,448.00 3323/2023 Ananda Sitaram Nikumbhe 30.09.2022 29.09.2022 2,65,061.00 3341/2023 Rajendra Yuvraj Patil 31.05.2022 31.05.2022 2,25,675.00 3342/2023 Hiralal Bajirao Bhalekar 30.04.2022 29.04.2022 1,17,110.00 3333/2023 Indubai sevanand Thakur 31.08.2018 10.10.2019 28,264.00 3334/2023 Gulabrao Narayan Pawar 31.05.2020 01.11.2020 92,419.00 3336/2023 Milind Kashinath Chavan 31.05.2022 28.11.2022 5,94,570.00 3339/2023 Sunita Siddharth Bagul @ Bebibai Bhuta Bhamre 25.02.2021 14.03.2022 1,61,597.00 (Died) 3324/2023 Dinkar Mango Bahiram 31.07.2021 28.03.2022 5,69,633.00
-93340/2023 Shankarsing Ramsing Rajput 31.05.2022 27.10.2022 2,24,725.00 3356/2023 Lata Devidas Dusane @ Golhare 31.05.2020 24.08.2020 93,534.00 3357/2023 Prakash Kashiram Rathod 31.05.2022 28.07.2022 2,33,790.00 3361/2023 Rajendra Muralidhar Bramhankar 31.01.2022 27.01.2022 1,89,691.00 3335/2023 Gokul Vithal Sonawane 31.05.2022 02.05.2022 1,78,695.00 3337/2023 Sugandha Rajendra Mahire 31.03.2021 16.03.2021 1,61,629.00 3332/2023 Vijaysing Bhimsing Shinde 30.11.2022 28.11.2022 2,53,858.00 3325/2023 Prakash Sitaram Nikumbhe 31.08.2021 28.11.2022 1,43,159.00 3344/2023 Sindhu Gulabrao Ambhore 31.08.2020 28.01.2021 99,376.00 3327/2023 Ujwala Muralidhar Vispute 30.06.2022 14.09.2022 2,01,494.00 3326/2023 Hanumant Sahdu Mokale 30.06.2021 21.09.2021 1,68,819.00 3329/2023 Mangla Balkrushna Wani 31.05.2020 05.02.2021 1,30,224.00 3330/2023 Bhikan Daulat Patil 31.08.2020 10.11.2020 1,60,771.00 3331/2023 Madhavrao Tulshiram Deore 28.02.2022 15.07.2022 2,13,242.00 3338/2023 Dilip Dhana Sonawane 31.12.2021 27.10.2022 2,90,420.00 3343/2023 Sunita 31.05.2021 04.08.2021 1,56,304.00
-10Siddharth Bagul @ Bebibai Bhuta Bhamre 3328/2023 Sunit Sakharam More 29.02.2016 02.07.2016 3,61,188.00 3351/2023 Sushila Vasant Chaudhari 30.11.2022 05.11.2022 2,64,163.00 3347/2023 Shaikh Aslam Shaikh Isa Sikalkar 31.05.2020 12.10.2020 3,14,378.00 3355/2023 Sayarabai Wd/o.
Shabbirkha Tadvi 19.06.2019 29.12.2021 5,11,791.00 Died 3346/2023 Nazima Wd/o Sardar Tadvi 15.10.2018 04.03.2020 4,14,258.00 (Died) 3345/2023 Sunanda Shriram Kumawat 31.05.2020 10.08.2021 1,95,431.00 3358/2023 Shankar Vedu More 31.05.2021 28.07.2021 3,65,910.00 3359/2023 Badrinath Kanhu Pawar 31.05.2022 02.09.2022 4,16,365.00 3348/2023 Atmaram Premraj Ahire 31.05.2022 23.08.2022 3,55,375.00 3353/2023 Vandana Wd/o.
Ashok Rajput 18.10.2014 15.07.2015 1,34,172.00 Died 3360/2023 Mandakini Anil Lindayat 30.11.2020 30.04.2021 1,76,589.00 3350/2023 Manorama Sudhakar Sali 31.03.2018 01.08.2018 2,26,345.00 3354/2023 Aruna Bhaskar Patil 31.07.2021 07.09.2022 2,39,490.00 3349/2023 Kalabai Muralidhar Shinde 34.05.2018 18.07.2019 57,472.00
-114.
We have considered the strenuous submissions of the learned advocates. It is, however, undisputed that none of these Petitioners had played any fraud or were personally involved in wrongful revision of their pay scales or orchestrating wrongful revision by manipulating the record. There is no allegation of fraud or deceit against any of them. No undertaking was acquired from them as and when the revised pay scale become payable. In some cases, at the stroke of retirement, a condition was imposed that they should execute an undertaking and it in these coercive circumstances, that undertaking were extracted from some of them. 5.
The learned Advocate representing the Zilla Parishad as well as the learned A.G.P., submit that once an undertaking is executed, the case of the Petitioners would be covered by the law laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in High Court of Punjab and Haryana and others vs. Jagdev Singh, 2016 AIR (SCW) 3523. Reliance is placed on the judgment delivered by this Court on 1.9.2021, in writ petition No. 13262 of 2018 filed by Ananda Vikram Baviskar Vs. State of Maharashtra and others. 6.
We have referred to the law laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in High Court of Punjab and Haryana and others vs. Jagdev Singh (supra). However, the record reveals that no undertaking was taken from these Petitioners when the pay scales were revised. The undertakings from some of them were taken at the
-12stroke of their retirement. An undertaking has to be taken from the candidate on the day the revised pay scale is made applicable to him and the payment commences. At the stroke of superannuation of the said employee, asking him to tender an undertaking, practically amounts to an afterthought on the part of the employer and a mode of compelling the candidate to execute an undertaking since they are apprehensive that their retiral benefits would not be released until such undertaking is executed. Such an undertaking will not have the same sanctity of an undertaking executed when the payment of revised pay scale had commenced. We, therefore, respectfully conclude that the view taken in High Court of Punjab and Haryana and others vs. Jagdev Singh (supra), would not be applicable to the case of these Petitioners, more so since the recovery is initiated after their superannuation.
7.
Taking into account that these Petitioners were not involved in any mischief, fraud or deceit in orchestrating their wrongful pay revision, the law laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Syed Abdul Qadir vs. State of Bihar and others, 2009 (3) SCC 475 and State of Punjab and other vs. Rafiq Masih (White Washer) etc. (2015) 4 SCC 334 = AIR 2015 SC 696, would apply to these cases.
8.
As such, all these Petitions are allowed.
-139.
The impugned orders are quashed and set aside. The amounts due and payable to the Petitioners, as well as to the widows, after the superannuation of the said employees/death of the employees, would be paid to these Petitioners/widow, within a period of 90 days alongwith admissible interest as per Rules, to be paid together.
10.
In Writ Petition No. 3364 of 2023, filed on 20.3.2023, Arabkha Amirkha Tadavi (alias Arabkhan Amirkhan Tadavi), is before this court for assailing the order dated 21.7.2017, though he has approached this court belatedly.
11.
The learned advocate for the Petitioner submits on instructions and in the light of the averments, set out in paragraph 10, the Petitioner would not claim any interest on the amount which has already been recovered from him, to the extent of it's repayment. 12.
As such, this petition is partly allowed. The impugned order dated 21.7.2017 is quashed and set aside to the extent of recovery of amount of Rs.3,30,448/-. The said amount of Rs.3,30,448/- recovered from the Petitioner, shall be repaid to him within 60 days from today, failing which the amount would attract interest at the rate of Rs.5% p.a. from the date of this order. (SANJAY A. DESHMUKH, J.) (RAVINDRA V. GHUGE , J.) rlj/