Supreme Court Imposes Rs 50000 Cost On Uttar Pradesh Govt For Filing Frivolous Appeal Challenging Gratuity To Deceased Employee

A Bench comprising Justice M.R. Shah and Justice B.V. Raganathna deplored the practice of filing frivolous appeals by State Governments before the Apex 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.”

One Dr. Vinod Kumar was working as Lecturer in a Government College in Uttar Pradesh. In 2009, he died while in service. Priyanka, his wife (original petitioner) applied for payment of gratuity due to Kumar. The Government rejected her claim stating that, while in service, her husband had not opted to retire at 60 years. A petition was filed before the Allahabad High Court, which was allowed. The State was directed to compute the amount payable to her husband towards gratuity with interest @ 8% p.a. The appeal by the State before the Division Bench of the High Court met with the same fate.

The Bench noted that Kumar was born on 1.7.1951; he would have completed 60 years on 30.06.2011. On 16.09.2009, a Government Order (GO) was issued according to which he could have exercised his option to retire at the age of 60 years, on or before 1.7.2010. However, he passed away prior to the stipulated period and there was no chance for him to exercise the option enumerated in the 2009 GO. It upheld the orders of the Court below. It further noted -

“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 SLP(C) No. 1595/2022]