Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has expressed strong dissatisfaction over the failure of the government to fully implement its earlier orders directing payment of retirement benefits to employees from various departments by April 9.
The court noted that although the government claimed to have made payments to 737 retired employees, only 221 petitions appeared to have been fully resolved. It was observed that while tokens had been issued, complete payments were not made in many cases.
The court made it clear that partial payments would not be acceptable and that all dues must be cleared in full within the stipulated time.
Court’s warning
The court warned that if even a single case remains pending, the Finance department’s principal secretary, Sandeep Sultania, would be required to appear in person as per previous orders.
It emphasised that this extension should not be taken lightly and cautioned the authorities against treating court orders casually.
The High Court further remarked that while delays in salary payments to regular employees might sometimes be overlooked, withholding retirement benefits is unacceptable.
Retirement benefits are not govt money: HC
It stressed that these funds are not government money but the rightful earnings of retired employees, often saved for critical needs such as children’s education and marriages.
The matter has been adjourned to June 10, with directions to submit petitioner-wise compliance reports confirming full payment of dues.
The case pertains to over 572 contempt petitions filed due to the non-implementation of earlier court orders issued last year regarding retirement benefits.
Govt counsel’s arguments
During the hearing before Justice Namavarapu Rajeshwara Rao, the government stated that 3,656 tokens had been issued, with payments made in 1,056 cases, while payments for 2,600 tokens were still pending despite assurances to complete them by April 9.
Government counsel argued that not all petitioners’ lawyers were present and suggested verification of treasury records. However, petitioners’ lawyers contended that payments were incomplete, stating that individuals had multiple tokens under different heads (such as pension, GPF, gratuity, etc.), and only some of these had been cleared. In certain cases, only about 20 percent of the total dues had been paid.
After hearing both sides, the court granted a final opportunity, directing the government to clear all pending dues and submit detailed compliance reports by June 10.
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