Dr. Avijith Roy v. The Union Of India And ORS.

IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA

Constitutional Writ Jurisdiction Appellate Side [ CIRCUIT BENCH AT PORT BLAIR ] ...

WPA/216/2022 Dr. Avijith Roy Vs.

The Union of India and others Ms. Anjili Nag ... for the petitioner Mr. Shatadru Chakraborty Mr. Ramendu Agarwal ...

for the respondents December 14, 2022 [SR] Item No.43 The short question that arises for consideration is as to whether the amount of Rs.5.00 lakhs and odd which is undisputed and payable to the petitioner can be ordered by the writ Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India to the petitioner.

Admittedly, the petitioner is an employee of the Administration and, therefore, governed by the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965.

Counsel for the Administration, apart from raising of question of maintainability of the writ petition, submits that there are proceedings contemplated against the petitioner for being part of a defalcation to the extent

of Rs.1.75 crores of funds received under a Scheme of Central Government. The matter is being enquired into by the CBI.

Without going into the reasons for non-payment of the alleged dues, this Court is of the clear view that the claims of the petitioner are a service benefit i.e. arrears under the 7th Pay Commission. The petitioner is therefore required to approach the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) for relief. The dicta of Supreme Court in the case of L. Chandra Kumar vs Union Of India And Others Reported in (1997) 3 SCC 261 is clear and explicit on the subject.

Reserving the liberty to the petitioner as indicated hereinabove, the writ petition is disposed of without any order.

There shall be no order as to costs.

All parties shall act on the server copy of this order duly downloaded from the official website of this Court.

( Rajasekhar Mantha, J. )