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SC set aside Patna HC order denying pension claim for lack of territorial jurisdiction
In case Shanti Devi Alias Shanti Mishra V. Union of India & Ors. the honorable Supreme court held that a retired employee who is receiving a pension can file the case from where he belongs. Honorable Justice Ashok Bhushan, Justice R.Subhash Reddy, and Justice M.R.Shah allowed the appeal of Shri Late B.N. Mishra who opted for pension in 2002.
A writ was filed by B.N Mishra in 2006 in Patna HC regarding grant of refund which was wrongly withheld and illegally deducted and this petition was dismissed in 2013 on the ground of lack of territorial jurisdictions his workplace was located in WB or Jharkhand.
After this, he filed a writ petition in Jharkhand HC for the relief which he had claimed previously. Authorities decided to refund the same claim but they decided to stop payment of monthly pension. Now again he filed a writ petition in Patna HC for payment of pension with interest but again on the same ground of lack of territorial jurisdiction the petition was dismissed. Letter patent appeal was filed in 2017 and during the pendency of the writ petition, Shri B.N. Mishra died and his wife Shanti Devi was substituted as writ petitioner but the petition was dismissed again as there was no legal infirmity in the previous one.
The learned counsel for the appellant submitted that the High Court committed error in dismissing the writ petition on the ground of lack of territorial jurisdiction and the cause of action had arisen within the jurisdiction of Patna HC. The Honorable Supreme Court has said that the cause of action was within the territorial jurisdiction of Patna HC. The stoppage of pension has caused immense hardship to the petitioner. A retired employee, who is receiving a pension, cannot be asked to go to another court for the filing writ petition in another court, and for his convenience, it is necessary to prosecute his case at a place where he belongs and was getting a pension.
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