High Court bars coercive affidavits, imposes costs on HAFED

Saurabh Malik

Chandigarh, February 22

In a significant judgment, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has unequivocally ruled against the practice of compelling employees to furnish affidavits undertaking the withdrawal of court cases and waiving their right to claim interest on amounts due. Justice Jasgurpreet Singh Puri declared that such affidavits lacked force of law and could not be enforced.

Can’t be enforced

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Such kinds of affidavits have no force of law and they are non-est and cannot be enforced. Such practice of seeking affidavits from the employees for giving the retirement benefits is highly deprecated. — Justice JS Puri

Justice Puri also ruled that an employee of HAFED, pressured to furnish such an affidavit, was entitled to Rs 50,000 costs. The amount would be paid to the petitioner by the respondents-HAFED. Its MD would be at liberty to conduct a fact-finding inquiry before fixing the accountability of persons who got the affidavit from the petitioner. The amount could, thereafter, be recovered from the person held responsible. “Such kinds of affidavits have no force of law and they are non-est and cannot be enforced. Such practice of seeking affidavits from the employees for giving the retirement benefits is highly deprecated. It is against the spirit of the basic scheme of the Constitution of India,” he asserted.

The ruling by Justice Puri came on a petition filed against the State of Haryana and other respondents by the retired employee for releasing the gratuity, leave encashment and security amount, along with interest from the due date till payment. The Bench, during the course of hearing, was told that the petitioner, working as a store keeper in HAFED, was compulsorily retired in 2005.