The officer was later reinstated, found innocent in a departmental inquiry and acquitted in the criminal case, but his Rs 3.81 lakh pension arrears and Rs 10 lakh gratuity were released only in November 2021.
Justice Namit Kumar was hearing the plea by one Balwinder Singh, who sought 18 per cent annual interest on the delayed payment. The authorities had rejected his claim in September 2021.
“The delay in release of the retiral dues cannot be attributed to any fault or omission on the part of the petitioner (police official), and he is, therefore, entitled to interest on the delayed payments of arrears of pension and gratuity,” the September 11 order read.
Received retiral benefits after 3 years
Singh claimed that he was appointed as a constable in the Punjab Police in June 1982. During his service, he was promoted to the post of head constable in 1991 and assistant sub-inspector in 2011.
Justice Namit Kumar said the retiral dues should have been released within a ‘reasonable period’ of the cop’s reinstatement.
It was stated that just 14 days before his retirement, on December 18, 2017, an accused, Varinder Singh, escaped from police custody at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, Amritsar. Singh and other police officials were held responsible for the escape. An FIR was registered, and Singh was arrested and later released on bail. On December 22, 2017, he was dismissed from service along with other police officers.
However, on April 19, 2018, Singh was reinstated with all consequential benefits. Since he had already reached the retirement age, he was treated as having retired from December 31, 2017.
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A police inquiry later declared him innocent, while the trial court acquitted him in the criminal case in September 2024. His pension arrears of Rs 3.81 lakh and gratuity of Rs 10 lakh were released only on November 1, 2021, more than three years and six months after the reinstatement order.
‘Not intentional delay’
The man, through advocate P M Kansal, argued that since there is a considerable delay in releasing the arrears of pension and gratuity, he is entitled to interest on the delayed payments.
Additional Advocate General Siddharth Sandhu submitted that the delay in releasing the amount was due to the pendency of the criminal case against him, and it was not intentional.
‘Singh was found innocent’
The high court noted that Singh served the police department for over 35 years, and was expected to retire on December 31, 2017. It found that, after being dismissed, he was reinstated again after the date of retirement.
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The judge mentioned that Singh’s retiral dues should have been released within a “reasonable period” from the date of his reinstatement. “However, arrears of pension amounting to Rs 3.81 lakh and gratuity amounting to Rs 10 lakh were released to the petitioner only on November 1, 202, after an inordinate delay of more than three years and six months from the date of order of reinstatement in service,” it noted.
The court held that he cannot be deprived of the benefit of interest on the delayed release, particularly when he was found innocent in the police inquiry and was also acquitted by the trial court in 2024.
Accordingly, the petition was allowed with a direction to the authorities to pay interest at the rate of 7 per cent per annum on the delayed payments of arrears of pension and gratuity of the petitioner from June 2018 till the actual date of payment, within a period of two months from this order.
Justice Namit Kumar said the retiral dues should have been released within a ‘reasonable period’ of the cop’s reinstatement.