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Sushil Kumar Singhal v. Pramukh Sachiv, Irrigation Department

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 5262 of 2008)Decided 17 Apr 2014
Civil Appeal No. 5262 of 2008
Justice Anil R. Dave · Justice Vikramajit Sen

Background

A retired assistant engineer was told that his salary had been incorrectly fixed in 1986. After retirement, the employer sought Rs.99,522 back and reduced the pay figure used to calculate his pension. He relied on a Government Order restricting retrospective pay corrections for pension fixation.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court allowed the appeal, set aside the pay-refixation and recovery orders and directed payment of the pension originally fixed at retirement. The applicable Government Order prevented the authority from correcting service pay errors beyond the prescribed 34-month examination period for pension. The 1986 mistake fell well outside that period. While the Government could change its policy, the employer had to comply with it while it remained in force.

Lesson Learnt

An employer must follow an applicable pension-protection policy even when an old salary calculation was mistaken. This ruling depended on the particular Government Order and does not establish that every overpayment to every retiree is unrecoverable.

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

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