C’garh HC: Pension is earned property right, not a bounty

C’garh HC: Pension is earned property right, not a bounty 

Orders Govt To Refund Pension Deducted To Heirs Within 45 Days

Partha.Behera@timesofindia.com 11.04.2025

Raipur : State govt cannot take away any part of an employee’s pension, gratuity or leave encashment without a statutory provision ‘even under the guise of administrative instructions’, Chhattisgarh high court has ruled. 

The court quashed the govt order that permitted the recovery of over ₹9.2 lakh from the pension of a deceased govt employee, Rajkumar Gonekar, a resident of MP’s Chhindwara, and directed that the amount be refunded to his legal heirs within 45 days. “It is an accepted position that gratuity and pension are not bounties. An employee earns these benefits by dint of his long, continuous, faithful and unblemished service. 

It is thus a hard earned benefit which accrues to an employee and is in the nature of ‘property’,” Justice Bibhu Datta Guru said in a recent order. This right to property cannot be taken away without the due process of law as per the provisions of Article 300-A of Constitution of India, Justice Guru said. “It follows that the attempt of the appellant state govt to take away a part of pension or gratuity or even leave encashment without any statutory provision and under the umbrage of administrative instruction cannot be countenanced,” the order said. Gonekar’s counsel submitted to the court that he was appointed as assistant director on March 29, 1990, and later promoted to deputy director in 2000. However, due to certain corrections in the gradation list, he was demoted to assistant director. 

Following court orders, he served as deputy director and retired on Jan 31, 2018. During his service, Gonekar received a notice alleging misappropriation. In his response, he denied the allegations and asserted that he acted lawfully. After retire ment, a show-cause notice  was issued on Dec 13, 2018, and he submitted his response on Jan 25, 2019, again refuting the charges. 

The court noted that the order to recover ₹9.23 lakh from his pension was passed without properly considering these facts and without following due process. The state contested this and said procedure was followed, adding that govt granted permission to recover the amount only after receiving Gonekar’s reply. HC noted that the original petitioner, Gonekar, died on June 20, 2024, and his legal heirs were subsequently included in the petition. HC concluded that according to Rule 9, recovery from pension can only be ordered if the employee is found guilty in departmental or judicial proceedings.