The Punjab State Cooperative Supply And Marketing Federation Ltd And Another v. Ashwani Kumar Garg And ORS
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A 86 9 5 >< ?3 KSection: 4 Payment of gratuity.
(1) Gratuity shall be payable to an employee on the termination of his employment after he has rendered continuous service for not less than five years, (a) on his superannuation, or (b) on his retirement or resignation, or (c) on his death or disablement due to accident or disease:
Provided that the completion of continuous service of five years shall not be necessary where the termination of the employment of any employee is due to death or disablement:
Provided further that in the case of death of the employee, gratuity payable to him shall be paid to his nominee or, if no nomination has been made, to his heirs, and where any
such nominees or heirs is a minor, the share of such minor, shall be deposited with the controlling authority who shall invest the same for the benefit of such minor in such bank or other financial institution, as may be prescribed, until such minor attains majority. Explanation.: For the purposes of this section, disablement means such disablement as incapacitates an employee for the work which he, was capable of performing before the accident or disease resulting in such disablement. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX (6) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub section (1), (a) the gratuity of an employee, whose services have been terminated for any act, wilful omission or negligence causing any damage or loss to, or destruction of, property belonging to the employer, shall be forfeited to the extent of the damage or loss so caused.
(b) the gratuity payable to an employee may be wholly or partially forfeited] (i) if the services of such employee have been terminated for his riotous or disorderly conduct or any other act of violence on his part, or (ii) if the services of such employee have been terminated for any act which constitutes an offence involving moral turpitude, provided that such offence is committed by him in the course of his employment."
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5< 1 8 22 5< "5.7 If these Rules are silent on any issue or no provision has been made on any specific point, the Punjab Government Rules/instructions on that issue will apply."
5< B>D 8 5=> 474< 74 5< (b) The Government further reserve to themselves the right of withholding or withdrawing a pension or any part of it, whether permanently or for a specified period and the right of ordering the recovery from a pension of the whole or part of any pecuniary loss caused to Government, if the pensioner is found in departmental or judicial proceedings, to have been guilty of grave misconduct or to have caused pecuniary loss to Government by misconduct or negligence, during his service including service rendered on reemployment after retirement.
Provided that─
(1) such departmental proceedings, if instituted while the officer was in service whether before his retirement or during his re employment shall after the final retirement of the officer, be deemed to be a proceeding under this rule and shall be continued and concluded by the authority by which it was commenced in the same manner and as if the officer had continued in service, (2) such departmental proceedings, if not instituted while the officer was on duty either before retirement or during re employment─ (i) shall not be instituted save with the sanction of the Government;
(ii) shall be in respect of an event which took place not more than four years before the institution of such
proceedings; and (iii) shall be conducted by such authority and at such place or places as the Government may direct and in accordance with the procedure applicable to departmental proceedings in which an order of dismissal from service could be made;
(3) such judicial proceedings, if not instituted while the officer was on duty either before his retirement or during his re employment, shall be instituted in respect of an event as is mentioned in clause (ii) of proviso (2); and
(4) The Public Service Commission shall be consulted before final orders are passed.
Explanation.─ For the purpose of this rule:
(1) Departmental proceedings shall be deemed to have been instituted when the charges framed against the pensioner are issued to him or, if the officer has been placed under suspension from an earlier date, on such date; and
(2) Judicial proceedings shall be deemed to have been instituted─ (i) in the case of criminal proceeding, on the date on which the complaint is made or a challan is submitted to a criminal court; and (ii) in the case of civil proceeding, on the date on which the plaint is presented or, as the case may be, an application is made to civil court.
Note 1.─ As soon as proceedings of the nature referred to in the above rule are instituted, the authority which institutes such proceedings should without delay intimate the fact to the Accountant General.
Note 2.─ In a case in which a pension as such is not withheld or withdrawn, but the amount of any pecuniary loss caused to Government is ordered to be recovered from the pension, the recovery should not ordinarily be made at a rate exceeding one third of the gross pension originally sanctioned including any amount which may have been commuted."
' 9 5< 0 B>D 8 5< B <5D6 94 4<5 ; A 5< 0 B>D 4 9 5 >< ?3 "Except when the term, "pension" is used in contradiction to "Gratuity", pension includes Gratuity"
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A 8 4 9 5 >< ?3 K(c) (1) Where any departmental or judicial proceeding is instituted under clause (b) of rule 2.
2 or where a departmental proceeding is continued under clause (i) of the proviso thereto against an officer who has retired on attaining the age of compulsory retirement or otherwise, he shall be paid during the period commencing from the date of his retirement to the date on which, upon conclusion of such proceedings, final orders are passed, a provisional pension not exceeding the maximum pension which would have been admissible on the basis of his qualifying service up to the date of retirement or if he was under suspension on the date of retirement up to date immediately proceeding to the date on which he was placed under suspension; but no gratuity or death cum retirement gratuity shall be paid to him until the conclusion of such proceedings and of final orders thereon.
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-' '/ '- "The provisions of this Act or any rule made there under shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any enactment other than this Act or in any instrument or contract having effect by virtue of any enactment other than this Act."
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J5 8 < 8 4< >84 4<54; ; A 5 4 9 <4 ? 8 << ?4; 9449<3 "i) The Government has no right to withhold or postpone pension or the payment on account of commutation of pension. The State is bound to release 100 per cent pension at the time of superannuation, may be provisionally.
(ii) The Government can withhold the gratuity or other retiral benefits except pension or postpone payment of the same during pendency of an enquiry.
(iii) Pension cannot be adversely affected before a finding of guilt is returned.
(iv) The Government can initiate departmental enquiry
2 after long lapse before retirement, rather there is no limitation for initiating the departmental enquiry from the date of incident before retirement. The delay and the explanation for the same may reasonably be taken note of keeping in view its likelihood to cause prejudice to the delinquent if the enquiry is challenged in appropriate proceedings.
(v) The enquiry proceedings cannot be quashed solely on the ground of long pendency.
(vi) There is no effect of superannuation on the pendency of the enquiry proceedings.
(vii) The recovery of the Government dues can be made from gratuity or other retiral benefits only." '
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=5; 53 "In view of the above mentioned Rules, it further becomes explicit that since the charge sheets had been issued to both the petitioners during the tenure of their employment/re employment with the respondent Federation, therefore the respondent Federation was well within its rights to withhold the amount of gratuity, as payble to the petitioners, till the conclusion of the disciplinary proceedings launched against them. 12.
Moreover, it has, recently, been observed by a three Judges' Bench of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in "Chairman cum Managing Director, Mahanadi Coalfields Limited vs. Sri. Rabindranath Choubey" 2020(2) SCT 554 that "where the disciplinary proceedings were initiated
before the superannuation of an employee, the payment of gratuity could be withheld till the proceedings were concluded". In the light of these observations also, it becomes crystal clear that the respondents could withhold the amounts of the Gratuity of the petitioners, against whom the disciplinary proceedings had, admittedly, been initiated before their superannuation, till the conclusion of the disciplinary proceedings carried out against them. / 9 4 /#1 ' 94 8
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