Kamala Kanta Maity v. State Of West Bengal And ORS.

14.12.2020 D/L No.14 Court No.25 s.biswas WPA 9640 of 2020 Kamala Kanta Maity Vs.

The State of West Bengal & Ors.

(Through Video Conference) Mr. Ekramul Bari Mr. Syed Mansur Ali ... ... for the petitioner Ms. Chaitali Bhattacharya Mr. M. K. Ghosh ... ... for the State Affidavit of service filed by the petitioner be kept on record.

The present writ petition has been preferred challenging inter alia the inaction on the part of the respondents to disburse the pensionary benefits of the petitioner, who retired from the post of an assistant teacher in Srirampur Vidyasagar Sikshamandir (in short, the said school) on 31st January, 2019.

Mr. Bari, learned advocate appearing for the petitioner submits that prior to the scheduled date of retirement on 31st January, 2019, all necessary documents were submitted towards grant of all pensionary benefits. Certain objections were raised thereafter by the Directorate of Accounts and forwarded to the respondent no.3. Dealing with the objections, a reply was furnished to the respondent no.3 by the teacher-in-charge of the said school through a letter dated 18th April, 2019. Thereafter no further steps have been taken by the

respondents and the petitioner's claim has been kept in abeyance.

Mr.

Bari submits that after retirement, the respondents cannot claim refund of any amount sanctioned and disbursed by the competent authority. In support of such contention, reliance has been placed upon an order passed by this Court in the case of Rajkumar Jana vs. The State of West Bengal & Ors. in W.P. 21935 (W) of 2017.

Ms. Bhattacharya, learned advocate, appears for the State respondent.

Upon hearing the learned advocates appearing for the respective parties, I am of the opinion that no useful purpose would be served in keeping the writ petition pending and the issue needs to be relegated to the pension sanctioning authority being the District Inspector of School (S.E.), Paschim Midnapore.

Accordingly, this Court directs the respondent no.3 to consider the replies furnished by the teacher-in-charge of the said school through the letter dated 18th April, 2019 to the objections as raised from the office of the Directorate of Accounts and to take appropriate steps towards disbursement of the pensionary benefits of the petitioner, in accordance with law and in the light of the observations made in this order, upon granting an opportunity of hearing to the petitioner and the school authorities, within a period of eight weeks from the date of

communication of this order along with a copy of the writ petition.

It is made clear that on the date scheduled for hearing, the school authorities shall appear along with all relevant records so that the dispute can be resolved. The other respondents shall also take all follow up steps and ensure that the petitioner's pensionary benefits are disbursed forthwith.

With the above observations and directions, the writ petition is disposed of.

There shall be no order as to costs.

Urgent Photostat certified copy of this order, if applied for, be supplied to the parties on completion of all necessary formalities.

(Tapabrata Chakraborty, J.)