Telangana govt begins to honour HC orders on retiral benefits
The Telangana government has at last begun to honour the orders of the Telangana High Court to clear all the dues of retired government employees, though nearly 24 months after their retirement and some 48 hours ahead of the deadline of April 9th fixed by the High Court. Hundreds of retired government employees have started receiving from Tuesday afternoon onwards their full retirement benefits including provident fund, gratuity, commutation, surrender leave, group insurance and medical reimbursement, among others. However, it is not clear yet as to how many of the 15,000 plus government employees retired from March 2024 have received their payments. The government is expected to submit those details to the High Court on Thursday. Appearing virtually before the High Court on March 23rd for failing to honour the orders of the court despite hundreds of contempt petitions, the Telangana state finance secretary Sandeep Kumar Sultania had given an undertaking to clear all the retiral dues by April 9th as ordered by the Court.
The finance secretary then had submitted to the Court that in all dues of some 3,656 retired government employees were recorded and the government so far cleared the dues of some 1,056 retired government employees following the orders of the Court and dues of some 2,600 retired staff were still pending to be cleared. Going by the submissions of the finance secretary, it appears that the state government has begun to clear the retiral dues of only those who have approached the High Court to obtain orders and not to all the government employees who retired from March 2024 onwards, who are estimated to be over 15,000. “After months and years of tireless battles in courtrooms of Telangana High Court with dozens and dozens of writ petitions, writ appeals and contempt cases, I am today flooded with calls from dozens of my clients (retired government employees) that the Telangana government has finally credited all pending retiral dues to them,” said CR Sukumar, legal counsel for over hundred retired government employees.
After providing a long rope of several adjournments over the last six months or so, the Telangana High Court has on March 23rd finally fixed April 9th this year as the final deadline for the Telangana government to clear the dues of all the retired government employees. Pronouncing this order on March 23rd evening, justice Namavarapu Rajeswar Rao said the state finance secretary Sandeep Kumar Sultania would have to appear before the court whenever the matter is listed before the court if the government fails to comply with its latest undertaking on the final deadline. Earlier on March 23rd morning, Justice Rao refused to entertain the plea of the Government Pleader to exempt personal appearance of the finance secretary for the state government's failure to comply with the orders of the court to clear the retirement dues of thousands of retired government employees.
According to CR Sukumar, legal counsel fighting the cases of retired government employees who received their full payments on Tuesday, thousands of retired government employees had approached the High Court over the last two years seeking directives to the Telangana government to clear their retirement benefits such as GPF, gratuity, commutation, gratuity, earned leave, surrender leave and group insurance, among others. Responding to these petitions, the Telangana High Court had last year ordered the state government to clear the dues within a few weeks, mostly six to ten weeks. However, with the government failing to comply with the orders of the High Court, hundreds of the retired government employees once again knocked on the doors of the High Court seeking to punish the government representatives, including the finance secretary, under the provisions of the Contempt of Courts Act, said legal counsel CR Sukumar.
Justice Namavarapu Rajeswara Rao, who was furious at the inordinate delays being resorted to by the state government in paying the retired government employees their own hard earned money, noted unfortunate reports that more than 80 retired government employees lost their lives under distress without seeing their Own Money.Though more than six months have passed after the contempt petitions were filed and notices were also served on the government representatives for contempt, the Government Pleader went on seeking adjournments over the last six months or so for complying with the court's orders but in vain.Furious over the government's callous attitude in not complying with its orders and also in not responding to its contempt notices, the High Court on the last occasion served "Form One" notices ordering the finance secretary Sandeep Kumar Sultania to appear in person before the court and offer explanation for the government's failure to comply with the orders.Finally, appearing before the High Court through virtual mode on March 23rd evening minutes before the court concluded its day's session, the finance secretary Sandeep Kumar Sultania gave an undertaking that the government will set aside its other priorities and clear all the dues of the retired government employees as directed by the Court.
“A special mention must be made of the Hon'ble justice of the Telangana High Court. After granting the government ample time to comply, His Lordship took a stern and much-needed stand for those in distress,” said legal counsel CR Sukumar. “By fixing April 9th as the final deadline to clear dues pending for over 24 months, the High Court has sent a clear message that the dignity of our retirees is non-negotiable. Huge respect to His Lordship for his decisive stance after giving a long rope to the government. This proves that justice delayed is no longer justice denied for those who were waiting in distress to receive their retiral benefits.”According to CR Sukumar, it took a team of dozens of dedicated advocates to make this happen, and he was proud to have contributed to this collective success. “Huge respect for my colleagues at the Telangana High Court who fought this battle every step of the way. Today, we celebrate a shared win!”
