The State of Uttar Pradesh was fined INR 50,000 by the Supreme Court on February 9 for filing a frivolous petition about the payment of a death-cumulative-retirement gratuity to the wife of a deceased professor. 

A bench made up of Justices M.R. Shah and B.V. Raganathna condemned the practise of State Governments bringing unfounded appeals before the Supreme Court.

“We deprecate the practice of a State filing such cases before the Apex Court. Hence the appeal is dismissed with cost of Rs. 50,000/- payable by the appellant to the respondent within a period of four weeks from today.”

In Uttar Pradesh, one Dr. Vinod Kumar was employed as a lecturer in a government college. He passed away while serving in 2009. His wife, Priyanka, the initial petitioner, requested that the gratuity owed to Kumar be paid. The government denied her application, arguing that her husband had not chosen to retire at age 60 while still in the military. The Allahabad High Court granted a plea that was submitted. The State was instructed to calculate the gratuity payment due to her husband with interest at 8% per year. The State's appeal before the High Court's Division Bench suffered the same outcome.

The Bench noted that Kumar was born on July 1, 1951, and that he will turn 60 on June 30, 2011. A Government Order (GO) was issued on September 16, 2009, allowing him to retire at age 60 on or before January 1, 2010, if he chose to do so. He did not get the opportunity to use the option specified in the 2009 GO since he died before the allotted time had gone. It upheld the lower court's rulings. It also mentioned -

“The death- cum-retirement gratuity is the benevolent scheme and the same is extended to the respondent being heirs/dependent of the deceased employee by the learned Single Judge, confirmed by the Division Bench. In the facts and circumstances of the case, no interference of this Court is called for.”

Case Title: State of U.P. And Ors. v. Smt. Priyanka 
Citation: SLP(C) No. 1595/2022

Appearance of the Advocates:-

For Petitioner(s) 
Mr. Sanjay Kumar Tyagi, AOR
Mr. Gaurav Dhama, Adv.
Mr. Prabhat Kumar Rai, Adv.
Mr. Ajay Kumar Pandey, Adv.

For Respondent(s) 
Dr. Ritu Bhardwaj, Adv.
Mr. Sachin Mittal, AOR