1Whether reporters of Local Papers may be allowed to see the judgment? Yes IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA CWP No.662 of 2023 Date of decision: 06.08.2025 Ved Parkash Sharma. ...Petitioner. Versus Bhakra Beas Management Board & Ors. ...Respondents. Coram: Ms. Justice Jyotsna Rewal Dua, Judge. Whether approved for reporting? For the petitioner : Ms. Vaishali Lakhanpal, Advocate, vice Mr. Parav Sharma, Advocate. For the respondents : Mr. Atul Jhingan and Mr. Gunjan Sharma, Advocates. Jyotsna Rewal Dua, Judge Petitioner, a retired employee, has preferred this writ petition seeking directions to the respondents to release his due and admissible Leave Travel Concession (‘LTC’) claim along with penal interest. 2. Heard learned counsel for the parties and considered the case record. 3. While serving as a Class-I Officer in the respondent–Bhakra Beas Management Board, the petitioner applied for LTC on 17.02.2020 for the block years 2018– 2021. With prior permission, he availed LTC from Sundernagar, Himachal Pradesh, to Shirdi, Maharashtra and -2- back w.e.f. 15.03.2020 to 22.03.2020. He submitted bills amounting to Rs.21,200/-. The bills were not sanctioned by the respondents on the ground that the air tickets had been purchased by the petitioner through a facilitator (MakeMyTrip) instead of an authorized agent. According to the respondents, the bills were returned to the petitioner with the aforesaid observation. The petitioner retired on 30.04.2020. From the writ record, repeated efforts made by the petitioner to get his LTC bills sanctioned are evident. Petitioner’s representations dated 31.08.2020, 21.02.2022, 11.07.2022 and legal notice dated 07.10.2022, have been appended with the writ petition. It appears that there have been many more letters/requests from the petitioner made to the respondents for doing the needful. The petitioner has also made requests to the respondents that, in case, they are not agreeable to sanction his entire LTC bills as claimed by him, due & admissible amount be released in his favour. Respondents did not do the needful, petitioner’s LTC bills were not sanctioned. Petitioner was compelled to institute this writ petition on 23.12.2022. In terms of the reply filed by the respondents, the petitioner made a revised LTC claim of Rs.14,158/- on -3- 30.12.2022, which was released in his favour on 24.04.2023. 4. The respondents did not settle the petitioner’s LTC claim in the year 2020 solely on the ground that he had booked his air tickets through MakeMyTrip instead of an authorized agency/agent and that he had claimed Volvo bus fare instead of ordinary bus fare, as per his entitlement. Petitioner’s travel from Sundernagar to Shirdi was not in dispute. Since the respondents disputed the petitioner’s claim as exceeding his entitlement, the least expected was that they would sanction and release the amount due in terms of his entitlement. Petitioner had repeatedly requested the respondents to sanction his LTC claim, which they deemed legal and as his entitlement. The petitioner had superannuated on 30.04.2020. His successive representations yielded no result, compelling him to institute writ petition on 23.12.2022. It was during the pendency of the petition that the respondents released the amount due and admissible to the petitioner, ostensibly because he furnished a revised claim. Respondents paid an amount of Rs.14,158/- towards full and final settlement of his LTC claim on 24.04.2023, whereas petitioner had restricted his LTC claim to this very amount in his representation dated 11.07.2022. The fact remains that the respondents could -4- have undertaken this exercise themselves in the year 2020 and could have released the admissible amount much earlier. They retained the petitioner’s due and admissible amount for over three years, which was unjust and arbitrary. Accordingly, this writ petition is disposed of with a direction to the respondents to pay interest @ 6% per annum on the LTC amount due and admissible to the petitioner w.e.f. 17.02.2020 till the date of release. Respondents to also pay cost of Rs.5000/- to the petitioner. This exercise be completed & payment be made to the petitioner within four weeks from today. The writ petition stands disposed of in the above terms. All pending miscellaneous application(s), if any, to also stand disposed of. Jyotsna Rewal Dua 6th August, 2025 Judge (Pardeep)