21.07.2026 sayandeep Sl. No. 25 Ct. No. 03 WPA 15035 of 2026 Nani Gopal Sarkar Vs. The State of West Bengal & Ors. Mr. Aswini Kr. Bera Mr. Arijit Bera …. for the petitioner Mr. Siddhartha Sharma Mr. Md. Danish Taslim Ms. Avantika Chakraborty …. for the State 1. The present writ petition has been filed, inter alia, praying for a direction upon the respondents to disburse the arrear pension for the months of February and March, 2023 and the interest on delayed payment of gratuity. According to the petitioner, the petitioner had joined the services of the Kharagpur municipality on 2nd September, 1996 and had retired from service on 31st January, 2023. 2. Following the above, the PPO was issued on 20th April, 2023. The petitioner claims that he had received his retiral benefits including his gratuity sometime in May, 2023. In support of his aforesaid contention, he has relied on bank statement. 3. Following the aforesaid, the petitioner had applied before the Chairman, Kharagpur municipality calling upon the respondents to disburse the arrear pension. Despite receipt of such notice WPA 15035 of 2026 2 dated 10th May, 2023, the municipality did not take any steps. Hence the petitioner has approached this Court. The writ petition has, however, been filed on 1st July, 2026. Mr. Sharma, learned advocate appears for the State. He submits that the petitioner is not entitled to any interest having not made any representation before the respondents. 4. Having heard the learned advocates appearing for the respective parties, I find that the petitioner claims that a part of the arrear pension has not been disbursed. Insofar as the aforesaid contention of the petitioner is concerned, the respondents are directed to take a decision with regard to the representation made by the petitioner on 10th May, 2023 and if it is found that any amount is due and payable to the petitioner on account of arrear pension, the same should be disbursed within a period of 2 weeks from the date of communication of this order. Insofar as the payment of interest on delayed payment of gratuity is concerned, I am of the view since the statute mandates gratuity to be paid immediately on retirement, the respondents were obliged to make payment thereof immediately, in case of any delay in terms of the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972, the respondents are obliged to make payment of interest at statutory rate. In this case, I, however, WPA 15035 of 2026 3 note that the date of retirement of the petitioner in 31st January, 2023 and the PPO was issued on 20th April, 2023. The gratuity was disbursed in favour of the petitioner in May, 2023 itself. 5. Be that as it may, since statutes mandates payment of interest on delayed payment of gratuity, I am of the view that respondents should pay interest at the rate of 6% per annum on the amount of delayed payment of gratuity from the date when the PPO was issued till such time the same was actually disbursed. The respondents are also directed to favour the petitioner with a chart showing computation on account of delayed payment of gratuity. The aforesaid payment shall be made within a period of 4 weeks from the date of communication of this order. 6. With the above observations and directions, the writ petition is disposed of. (Raja Basu Chowdhury, J.)