Reportable

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

CIVIL APPEAL NO. 9750 OF 2010

State of Bihar & Ors. ….. Appellants

Versus

Meera Tiwary & Anr. ….. Respondents  

J U D G M E N T

Indira Banerjee, J.

This  appeal, filed  by  the  State  of  Bihar  & Others, is  against the

judgment and order dated 30.5.2007 passed by the High Court of

Judicature at Patna, disposing of the Contempt Application being MJC No.

2194 of 2005, filed by the respondent no.1 with a direction to the

competent authority to finalise the family pension due and payable to the

respondent no.1, taking into account the notional salary, which was

payable to her husband on the date of his retirement, that is, 30.6.1995,

as early as possible  and in any case within three weeks from the date of

receipt of a copy of the said order.  

2. Shri   Amardeo   Tiwari,   since   deceased,   husband   of the

respondent no.1,  was appointed Junior  Engineer in the Public  Works

Department on or about 1.8.1958.  He  was promoted to the post of

Temporary  Assistant  Engineer  on  ad  hoc  basis,   vide  departmental

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notification no. 5973 dated 2.9.1981, which provided that the promotion

would be effective from the date on which he would take charge in the

promoted post.  

3. By  notification  no. 9744  dated  20.12.1994,  Sh.  Amardeo Tiwari,

since deceased,  was given regular promotion to the post of Assistant

Engineer w.e.f. 28.11.1979, with the approval of the Bihar Public Service

Commission.  

4. Sh. Amardeo Tiwari, since deceased, retired from service on or about

30.6.1995, on attaining the age of retirement.   Sh. Amardeo Tiwari died on

30.5.2004.  It appears that till his death, his retiral benefits had not been

determined or released.  

5. On or about 20.09.2004, the respondent no.1, filed a writ petition

being CWJC No. 11497 of 2004 in the High Court praying for a direction

on the concerned authorities to fix and pay the post­retiral benefits of her

late husband.  Apart from the writ petition being CWJC No. 11497 of 2004,

many other similar writ petitions were filed praying for similar reliefs.

6. By a common judgment and order dated 21.9.2004, the High Court

disposed of the writ petition being CJWC No. 11497 of 2004 filed by the

respondent  no.1, along  with  20 other similar cases.   The  order dated

21.9.2004 is set out herein below for convenience: ­

“In all these writ petitions, the grievance of the Petitioners relates to retrial sic retiral due/death­cum­retiral dues, which have not been redressed even after filing of the writ petition.

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However,  having regard to the  order  dated  19.09.2003 disposing of several writ petitions, bearing C.W.J.C No. 7054 of 2003 and analogous cases by common order, this Court considers it expedient to dispose of these writ petitions also in terms of the directions given in the said order, with only modification that two paragraphs affidavit personally sworn by the concerned authority must be filed by 9th November, 2004. Parties will  be bound by the said direction and they should proceed in the matter accordingly.”

7. Pursuant to the order dated 21.9.2004 in the writ petition CWJC No.

11497  of 2004 filed by the respondent no.1,  whereby   the concerned

authorities were directed to fully redress the grievances of the petitioner,

provisional pension and provisional gratuity were sanctioned to the

respondent no.1 vide memo nos. 1167 and 1168 dated 6.11.2004 issued

by the Executive Engineer, National Highway Division, Chapra, Bihar.  The

memos reveal that provisional pension and gratuity were sanctioned on the

basis that Sh. Amardeo Tiwari continued to be a Junior Engineer.  

8. By a letter no. Pra­3/M­01/03­253E dated 10.2.2005, the Engineer­

in­Chief­cum­Additional Secretary­cum­Special Secretary, Road

Construction Department, Patna, Bihar sanctioned cash payment of

unutilised earned leave of late Sh. Amardeo Tiwari.   The said memo also

showed the designation of Sh. Amardeo Tiwari as retired Junior Engineer.   

9. On or about 29.8.2005, the respondent no.1 filed an application for

contempt being MJC No. 2194 of 2005 for non­compliance by the alleged

contemners of the order dated 21.9.2004 in CWJC No. 11497 of  2004.

After the aforesaid application for contempt was filed, the Commissioner

and Secretary,  Road Works  Department,  Patna,  Bihar  passed  an order

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being Memo no. ..3/M­01/03­1908 (3) Patna dated 24.2.2006.   The

relevant parts of the said memo are extracted hereinbelow: ­

“Late Shri Amardev Tiwari was  in government service at the post of junior engineer since 01.08.1958.  As per service rules, his service in the form of junior engineer is verified till 29.02.1980.   He was promoted to the post of Assistant Engineer in the year 1980.  It has been informed by Executive Engineer,  National  High Road Sub­division Chapra that late Shri Tivari did not contribute at the post of Assistant Engineer despite the order/direction in this regard and remained absent in  office, from 16.04.1980  to the  date  of  his retirement i.e. 30.06.1995, without prior permission from the office.  After the retirement, he died on 30.05.2004.

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Since late Tivari, after his promotion to the post of Assistant Engineer,  has remained absent continuously  from the office, without permission, for the period from 16.04.1980 to the date of his retirement i.e. 30.06.95, therefore, service period of late Tivari  was under the salary of  Junior Engineer.  Hence, his pension shall be fixed on the basis of the same.  The question of pay fixation for him in terms of salary for Assistant Engineer does  not arise since  he  has  not contributed  at the  post of Assistant Engineer.”

10. On or about 15.01.2007, the respondent no. 1 filed the contempt

petition being  MJC  No. 93/2007 complaining that the appellants had

wilfully disobeyed the directions contained in the judgment and order

dated 21.9.2004 of the High Court.   In the proceedings initiated by the

respondent  no.1, the  alleged  contemners contended that the  directions

issued by the High Court on 21.9.2004 had duly been complied with.  The

High Court,  however,  passed the  judgment and order  impugned in this

appeal, directing the authorities concerned to finalise the family pension of

the respondent no.1 taking  into account the notional salary which was

payable to her husband on the date of his retirement i.e. 30.6.1995. Page 4 of 9

11. The appellants contend that by directing the alleged contemners to

finalise the family pension payable to the respondent no.1, on the basis of

the notional salary payable to the deceased husband of  the respondent

no.1 on the date of his retirement, the High Court modified the original

judgment and order in the writ petition, for violation of which contempt

proceedings were initiated.  The appellants also contended that, in terms of

the provision of  Rule 58(a) of the  Bihar  Service  Code, subject to any

exception specifically made in those rules and subject to the provisions of

clause (b) of Rule 58(a), a government servant is entitled to draw pay and

allowances attached to his post w.e.f. the date on which he assumes duty

in that post and ceases to draw such pay and allowances as soon as he

ceases to discharge those duties.  

12. Mr. Vikramjeet Banerjee, ASG submitted that the High Court had

clearly erred in law by expanding the scope of the original order in

contempt proceedings and also by overlooking Rule 58 as also Rule 76 of

the Bihar Service Code.  Rule 58 provides that a government servant, after

five years of continuous absence from duty, would cease to be in

government employment.  

13. Significantly, no show cause notice was ever issued to Sh. Amardeo

Tiwari, since deceased, during his lifetime alleging that he had not joined

the duties pertaining to the post of Assistant Engineer or had remained

absent for a continuous period of five years.   Continuous absence of five

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years would most certainly have attracted disciplinary proceedings.   There

were no disciplinary proceedings.  

14. We are unable to accept the argument of the learned ASG that the

High Court modified or expanded the scope of the original order in the writ

proceedings in contempt.  The concerned authorities were directed to fully

redress the grievances of the petitioner, and/or in other words, to release

the retiral dues of late Sh. Amardeo Tiwari in full.   The dues necessarily

had to be computed having regard to the salary and allowances pertaining

to the post which Sh. Amardeo Tiwari, since deceased, had held at the time

of his retirement.   

15. After the disposal of the writ petition, in the absence of any

disciplinary proceedings or show cause notice or other material, it is not

open to the authorities concerned to deny the respondent no.1 the benefits

pertaining to the post to which her husband had been promoted, on the

purported ground that he had failed to join the post and had allegedly

remained absent from duties for a period of 13 years and 10 months.  We

cannot, but take notice of the fact that there were two orders of promotion,

the first ad hoc, and the second, a regular promotion order, as per the list

of dates filed by the appellants along with the appeal.   The ad hoc

promotion has inadvertently and/or erroneously been referred to as

substantive promotion in the list of dates.

16. It is preposterous that a second order would have been issued

confirming the promotion to the post of Assistant Engineer, if late Amardeo Page 6 of 9

Tiwari  had  not joined the  post  pursuant to the earlier order  and  had

remained absent.   Significantly, there is not a whisper of the exact date

from which late Amardeo Tiwari allegedly stopped attending to his duties

and remained absent.  It seems quite absurd that a person promoted on ad

hoc basis, who had not been attending to his duties should be promoted

on regular basis.   It is equally difficult to accept that a person who had

been attending to his duties would suddenly stop attending to his duties

upon his promotion to a higher post.  

17. In proceedings for contempt, the  High  Court is entitled to pass

orders for effective enforcement of an order of which violation is alleged.

By the order dated 21.9.2004, the High Court directed the authorities to

finalise the retiral dues on account of Shri Amardeo Tiwari, since

deceased.  The  High  Court  directed release  of the retiral  dues  of  Shri

Amardeo Tiwari, since deceased, in entirety and not in part.  

18. As observed above, the  authorities  concerned did not finalise the

dues, but only sanctioned and/or released provisional gratuity and

provisional pension and that too on the basis that Shri Amardeo Tiwari,

since deceased, had continued to be a Junior Engineer as on the date of

his retirement.   

19. It was not open to the appellants to circumvent the order passed by

the High Court and release provisional pension and gratuity and that too

calculated in relation to the salary and emoluments of a lower post.   

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20. The High Court, in effect and substance,  found that the dues on

account of Shri Amardeo Tiwari, since deceased, should be computed on

the basis  of the  salary  pertaining to the  post  of  Assistant  Engineer to

which Shri Amardeo Tiwari, since deceased, had admittedly been

promoted.   Unable to accept the belated plea of the contemner­

respondents that Shri Amardeo Tiwari, since deceased, had remained

absent, the  High  Court directed that the family pension be computed

taking into account the notional salary payable to an Assistant Engineer

on the date of retirement, which was 30.6.1995.   

21. Words and/or phrases in a judgment cannot be read as “Euclid’s

Theorems” and in any case not out of context to hold that the High Court

modified its earlier order by directing the alleged contemner to take into

account the notional salary payable to the respondent no.1’s husband on

the date of his retirement.   The High Court merely directed the alleged

contemner to finalise the  dues  payable to the respondent  no.1  having

regard to the salary that should have been payable to her husband on the

date of his retirement as Assistant Engineer,  the post to which he was

admittedly promoted.   

22. In our view, the High Court did not modify any earlier order.  Nor did

the High Court expand the scope of any earlier order.  The High Court only

effectively enforced its earlier order, which it was entitled in law to do.  

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23. In view of the above, we find no ground at all to interfere with the

judgment  and order  of the High Court  under  appeal.  Accordingly, the

appeal is dismissed with no order as to costs.  

…………………….., J. [Indira Banerjee]

…………………….., J. [Ajay Rastogi]

NEW DELHI JUNE 11, 2019

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