Smti Gitanjali Baruah v. The State of Assam and 4 Ors

ORDER Date : 31.07.2024

Heard Mr. J. I. Borbhuiya, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Mr. A. Kalita, learned counsel appearing for the respondents no. 1 & 2 and Mr. P. Naik, learned counsel appearing for the respondent no. 3 as well as Mr. S. K. Goswami, learned counsel representing the respondents no. 4 & 5.

¶2The petitioner herein contends that in terms of a notification dated 10.06.2004, the husband of the petitioner, who had opted for voluntary retirement, was to be authorized his dues in the following manner:-

(i) Ex gratia benefit of 30 days salary

(ii) Gratuity as per Gratuity Rules; and

(iii) 50% leave encashment benefits.

¶3However, the said notification dated 10.06.2004 was subsequently amended by another notification dated 15.02.2006; wherein, the manner of calculation of the voluntary retirement dues was modified. Page No.# 3/5

¶4It is to be noted that the husband of the petitioner herein, being aggrieved by the subsequent notification dated 15.02.2006, had instituted proceeding before this Court in WP(C)/5531/2010.

¶5This Court had considered the issue arising in the said writ petition filed by the petitioner herein, along with other analogous matters, and vide order dated 11.12.2014, was pleased to dispose of the same with the following observations and directions:-

"The bone of contention between the parties appears to be that the Corporation insisted the VRS as per the second notification whereas, the petitioner contends that they will give up all the claims in all the three writ petitions except the claim for money, which they are entitled to and the benefits of VRS under the first notification and also the arrear of salary of the petitioner in WP(C)/1157/2009. It is said that the entire amounts due have been paid to the petitioners as per the second notification.

It becomes evident that the petitioners having accepted the VRS according to the first notification, they are entitled to the benefits as per the first notification and should be paid accordingly. If the petitioners are entitled to any excess amount by virtue of the first notification, the same shall be payable to the petitioners and the respondents shall pay the same to the petitioners by calculating the amounts payable under the first notification and deducting the amount already paid by virtue of the second notification. The monetary claim payable to the petitioners as per the VRS scheme should be settled within three months so also the additional claim of the petitioner in WP(C) No. 1157/2009 towards the arrears of salary should also be settled within three months."

¶6It is seen that the respondent no. 4 being aggrieved by the directions as passed by the Co-ordinate Bench of this Court, vide the said Page No.# 4/5 order dated 11.12.2014, had instituted a writ appeal being WA/159/2015 before this Court. The said writ appeal was taken up for consideration and this Court, vide order dated 18.04.2017, proceeded to reject the challenge as presented to the directions passed by the learned Single Judge.

¶7The respondent no. 4 thereafter, assailed the order of the Division Bench by instituting proceeding before the Hon'ble Supreme Court and, on consideration made, the same also came to be dismissed vide the order dated 07.11.2023.

¶8In view of the above position, the claim of the petitioner herein, for authorizing to her the VRS dues in respect of the services of her husband Late Subrata Baruah in terms of the notification dated 10.06.2004, stands upheld.

¶9Accordingly, the respondents, more particularly, the respondents no. 2 & 3 are hereby directed to compute the VRS dues of the husband of petitioner, strictly, in accordance with the notification dated 10.06.2004 and to release the same to the petitioner after deducting the amounts already released to the husband of the petitioner and/or to the petitioner in this connection.

¶10The VRS dues of her deceased husband, as now receivable by the petitioner herein, be computed in the manner indicated above and be released to her within a period of 3(three) months from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order.

¶11With the above observations and directions, the writ petition stands disposed of. Page No.# 5/5

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010115262015 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/2193/2015o SMTIoGITANJALIoBARUAHo W/O-oLT.oSUBRATAoBARUAH,oR/O-oSURVEY,oBELTOLA,oP.O.-oBELTOLA,oP.S.-o DISPUR,oDIST.-oKAMRUPoM,oASSAM. VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo4oORSo TOoBEoREP.oBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoandoSECY.oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,o PUBLICoWORKSoDEPTT.,oDISPUR,oGHY-o6. 2:THEoCOMMISSIONERoandoSECY.oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oPUBLICoENPRISESoDEPTT. oGHY-o6. 3:THEoCOMMISSIONERoandoSECY.oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oFINANCEoDEPTT. oGHY-o6. 4:THEoASSAMoGOVT.oCONSTRUCTIONoCOMPANYoLTD. oRUPNAGAR oGHY-o32 oP.O.-oRUPNAGAR oDIST.-oKAMRUPoM oASSAM. 5:THEoMANAGINGoDIRECTOR oGOVT.oCONSTRUCTIONoCOMPANYoLTD. oRUPNAGAR oGHY-o32 oP.O.-oRUPNAGAR oDIST.-oKAMRUPoM oASSAMo Page No.# 2/5 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR.L MOHAN, MRH I CHOUDHURY,MR.J I BORBHUIYA,MS.F BEGUM,MR.K H CHOUDHURY Advocate for the Respondent : MR.A ACHARYAR-4and5, MR.S K GOSWAMI(R-4&5),SC, FINANCE(R3),SC, PWD(R1),GA, ASSAM(R2) BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE N. UNNI KRISHNAN NAIR