Court directs Punjabi University to release pension with 6% interest

Mohit Khanna

Tribune News Service

Patiala, August 12

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed Punjabi University, Patiala, to release pension of teaching faculty with 6 per cent interest.

Last year, the retired teaching faculty sat on a hunger strike for withholding the pension on the basis of rationalisation policy.

Deciding the civil writ petition on July 31, Justice Harsimran Singh Sethi stated, “Pension is the right of a retiree and the retiree in order to survive and lead a dignified life, needs pension on a due date, so that no prejudice is caused to him/her. As per the facts on record, the pension of the petitioners was not released on due dates though, as of now, the same has been released along with the arrears.”

Pension is the right of a retiree and the retiree in order to survive and lead a dignified life, needs pension on a due date, so that no prejudice is caused to him/her. As per the facts on record, the pension of the petitioners was not released on due date though, as of now, the same has been released along with the arrears. —Justice Harsimran Singh Sethi, Punjab and Haryana High Court

“The question on the grant of interest has already been covered by the judgment of the Co-ordinate Bench of this court in JS Cheema Vs State of Haryana, 2014(13) RCR (Civil) 355, wherein it has been held that in case an amount belonging to an employee has been retained and used by the department, the employee becomes entitled for the grant of interest and in the present case, the pension admissible to the petitioner was retained and used by the university for their benefit, hence the petitioners are entitled for interest on the delayed release of the pension at the rate of 6 per cent per annum from the date the pension becomes due till the actual payment of the same,” reads the order.

“Let the interest for which the applicant-petitioners are entitled be computed and released to them within a period of eight weeks from the receipt of certified copy of this order. Non-release of interest to the applicant-petitioners will be viewed seriously, including issuance of suo motu contempt in case any such information is received by this court,” states the order.

Jagbir Singh, chairman, Joint Action Committee for Pensioners, said the Punjabi University Retired Teachers’ Association (PURTA) was established by retired teachers in 2020 as the university was not paying pension to the retirees.

We filed a case in the high court in 2020, said Jagbir, adding that the university was no longer suffering from a financial crunch.