Jaipur: Ending a nearly 27-year wait for part of his retirement benefits, the Rajasthan High Court has directed the release of an 81-year-old retired district and sessions judge’s pending gratuity with 9% annual interest and imposed costs of ₹1 lakh on the Rajasthan government and the High Court administration for the prolonged delay.The directions were issued on July 7 by a division bench of Acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma and Justice Maneesh Sharma while hearing a writ petition filed by Mata Deen Garg, who retired as a district and sessions judge on March 31, 1999. A copy of the order was uploaded Thursday.Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Saugat Roy submitted that two years after Garg’s retirement, the Directorate of Estates informed the High Court administration that ₹57,454 could be deducted from his gratuity as he had not vacated government accommodation within the stipulated period. The department also conveyed that the balance amount could be released.Despite this communication, the remaining gratuity was never paid. The petitioner continued to make repeated representations over the years, but no action was taken, counsel argued.The bench observed that once the recoverable amount had been quantified and permission granted to deduct it from the gratuity, there was no justification for withholding the balance retiral dues for over 25 years.Observing that the petitioner had been deprived of his lawful retiral benefits for decades, the court directed the respondents to release the outstanding gratuity within seven days along with interest at 9% per annum.Holding the delay to be unjustified, the bench also imposed costs of ₹1 lakh, to be shared by the respondents, for failing to release the amount legally due to the retired judicial officer.The court further directed the respondents to file a compliance report and listed the matter for July 20 to monitor implementation of its order.
