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P. Krishna Murthy v. Commissioner of Sericulture, Andhra Pradesh

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal Nos. 5897-98 of 2014)Decided 1 Jul 2014
Civil Appeal Nos. 5897-98 of 2014
Justice J.S. Khehar · Justice M.Y. Eqbal

Background

A superintendent in the Sericulture Department sought voluntary retirement while facing disciplinary proceedings, and the department accepted his request. Before the retirement date, he asked to withdraw it, but the department refused. He did not challenge that refusal, accepted retirement benefits and pursued an appeal against a pension reduction; after the government removed that reduction, he sought reinstatement two years after retiring.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court dismissed his appeals and upheld the High Court's refusal to order reinstatement. It distinguished decisions permitting withdrawal of a retirement notice before retirement took effect, because Krishna Murthy had left the rejection of his withdrawal request unchallenged. His subsequent representations and acceptance of retirement benefits treated him as retired, and his departmental appeal concerned the pension penalty alone. The government's sympathetic decision to remove that penalty did not reopen the earlier retirement or give him a right to return to service.

Lesson Learnt

An employee whose request to withdraw voluntary retirement is rejected should challenge that decision promptly; a later successful appeal about pension deductions does not by itself undo the retirement.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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