1 WBCHCA0212682026 Item No.7 Ct. No. 1 RP IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA CONSTITUTIONAL WRIT JURISDICTION APPELLATE SIDE WPCT 102 OF 2026 1. SANKAR KUMAR DAS aged about 62 years, son of Late Narayan Chandra Das, ] residing at Vidyasagar Sarani, S.V. Road, Yubagosti ] Club, Post Office-Birati, Police Station-Nimta ] Kolkata-700051. ]…..Petitioner versus 1. Union of India, service through the Secretary, Ministry ] of Finance, Department of Revenue, Government of ] of India, having office at North Block, New Delhi-110001. ] 2. The Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes, ] Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue, ] Government of West Bengal, North Block, ] New Delhi-110001. ] 3. The Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, ] West Bengal and Sikkim, having office at P-7, ] Aayakar Bhawan, Chowringhee Square ] Kolkata-700069. ] 4. The Principal Chief Income Tax Commissioner-13, ] Kolkata, 3 No. Govt. Place (West), 2nd Floor, ] Kolkata-700001. ] 2 5. The Senior Accounts Officer, office of the Deputy ] Controller of Accounts, Central Board of Direct ] Taxes, Zonal Accounts Office, Bamboo Villa(Annexe), ] 169 A.J.C. Bose Road, Kolkata-700014. ] 6. The Deputy Controller of Accounts, ] Central Board of Direct Taxes ] Zonal Accounts Office, Bamboo Villa(Annexe), ] 169 A.J.C. Bose Road, Kolkata-700014. ]… Respondents Appearance: Mr. U.N. Betal Mr. Barun Chatterjee ...Advocate for Petitioner Mr. Rabi Prasad Mookerjee Ms. Sanjukta Gupta ...Advocate for UOI CORAM: RAVINDRA VITHALRAO GHUGE, CHIEF JUSTICE & OM NARAYAN RAI J. Date :25.09.2026 JUDGMENT ( Per Ravindra V. Ghuge, CJ ) 1. Rule. Rule is made returnable forthwith and heard finally by the consent of the parties. 2. The Petitioner is the Original Applicant before the Central Administrative Tribunal, Kolkata Bench, who has suffered rejection of his OA/432/2026, vide order dated 09.04.2026. He had approached the Tribunal on account of Respondent/Employer Income Tax Department having refused 3 to pay his retirement monetary benefits only for the reason that he did not open a joint bank account along with his wife. The Petitioner has superannuated on 31.12.2023 and it is for the last thirty three months that he has not received his pension and gratuity. The Tribunal has rejected his claim on the basis of the rules and the submissions of the Employer that, unless he tenders the details of a joint bank account, he would not be entitled for payment of pension, gratuity and other retirement benefits. 3. The Learned Advocate for the Respondent/Employer has vehemently opposed this Petition. He contends that the Rules have the force of Law. He specifically refers to Rule 57 of the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 2021 as also Form 6A read with Rules 50, 53, 57-60, 62, 63 and 80. 4. He further submits on instructions that if the Rules do not permit, the Employer does not have the scope of diluting any condition under the Rules. Opening of a joint bank account with the wife was a mandate, according to the Employer. Unless the Petitioner was judicially separated from his wife or was unmarried, no pension, gratuity and other retirement benefits can be paid to him in the absence of a joint bank account. 4 5. The afore stated submissions of the Learned Advocate for Employer is the solitary ground on which the Tribunal has rejected the claim. 6. We have perused Rule 57, which, according to the Respondent/Employer, is the relevant Rule to be read along with Form 6. For the sake of brevity we are reproducing Rule 57 hereunder: 57. Stages for the processing of pension case on superannuation. (1) The Head of Office shall divide the period of preparatory work of one year referred to in Rule 56 in the following three stages, namely:- (a) First Stage. Verification of service, - (I) the Head of Office shall go through the service book of the Government servant and satisfy himself as to whether the certificates of verification for the service subsequent to the service verified under Rule 30 are recorded therein; (ii) In respect of the unverified portion or portions of service, he shall verify the portion or portions of such service, as the case may be, based on pay bills, acquittance rolls or other relevant records, such as last pay certificate and pay slip for month of April (which shows verification of service for the previous financial year) and record necessary certificates in the service book; (iii) If the service for any period is not capable of being verified in the manner specified in sub-clause (i) and sub-clause (ii), that period of service having 5 been rendered by the Government servant in another office or Department, the Head of Office under which the Government servant is at present serving shall refer the said period of service to the Head of Office in which the Government servant is shown to have served during that period for the purpose of verification; (iv) on receipt of communication referred to in sub-clause (iii), the Head of Office in that office or Department shall verify the portion or portions of such service, in the manner as specified in sub-Clause (ii), and send necessary certificates to the referring Head of Office within two months from the date of receipt of such a reference: Provided that in case a period of service is incapable of being verified, it shall be brought to the notice of the referring Head of Office simultaneously; (v) If no response is received within the time referred to in the preceding sub- clause, such period or periods shall be deemed to qualify for pension; (vi) If at any time thereafter, it is found that the Head of Office and other concerned authorities had failed to communicate any non-qualifying period of service, the Secretary of the administrative Ministry or Department shall fix responsibility for such non-communication; (vii) the process specified in sub-clauses (i), (ii), (iii), (iv) and (v) shall be completed eight months before the date of superannuation; 6 (viii) if any portion of service rendered by a Government servant is not capable of being verified in the manner specified in sub-clause (i) or sub- clause (ii) or sub-clause (iii) or sub-clause (iv) or sub-clause (v), the Government servant shall be asked to file a written statement on plain paper within a month, stating that he had in fact rendered service for that period, and shall, at the foot of the statement, make and subscribe to a declaration as to the truth of that statement; (ix) the Head of Office shall, after taking into consideration the facts in the written statement referred to in sub-clause (viii) admit that portion of service as having been rendered for the purpose of calculating the pension of that Government servant; and (x) if a Government servant is found to have given any incorrect information wilfully, which makes him or her entitled to any benefits which he or she is not otherwise entitled to, it shall be construed as a grave misconduct. (b) Second Stage. (b) Second Stage. – Making good the omissions in the service book, - (i) the Head of Office while scrutinizing the certificates of verification of service, shall also identify if there are any other omissions, imperfections or deficiencies which have a direct bearing on the determination of emoluments and the service qualifying for pension; 7 (ii) every effort shall be made to complete the verification of service, as specified in Clause (a) and to make good the omissions, imperfections or deficiencies referred to in sub-clause (i); (iii) any omission, imperfection or deficiency which is incapable of being made good and the periods of service about which the Government servant has submitted no statement and the portion of service shown as unverified in the service book which it has not been possible to verify in accordance with the procedure laid down in Clause (a) shall be ignored and service qualifying for pension shall be determined on the basis of the entries in the service book; (iv) for the purpose of calculation of emoluments and average emoluments, the Head of Office shall verify from the service book the correctness of the emoluments drawn or to be drawn during the last ten months of service; (v) in order to ensure that the emoluments during the last ten months of service have been correctly shown in the service book, the Head of Office shall verify the correctness of emoluments only for the period of twenty-four months preceding the date of retirement of a Government servant, and not for any period prior to that date. (c) Third Stage. (c) Third Stage. – As soon as the second stage is completed, but not later than eight months prior to the date of retirement of the Government servant, the Head of Office shall, - 8 (i) furnish to the retiring Government servant a certificate regarding the length of qualifying service proposed to be admitted for the purpose of pension and gratuity and also the emoluments and the average emoluments proposed to be reckoned for retirement gratuity and pension; (ii) direct the retiring Government servant to furnish to the Head of Office the reasons for non-acceptance, supported by the relevant documents in support of his claim within two months if the certified service and emoluments as indicated by the Head of Office are not acceptable to him; (iii) advise the retiring Government servant to submit Form 6-A. (2) [(a) The Government servant shall submit duly completed Form – 6A to the Head of the Office, not later than six months prior to his date of retirement.] (b) The Government servant shall also apply in Form 6, if he so desires, for commutation of a percentage of pension in accordance with the Central Civil Services (Commutation of Pension) Rules, 1981. (3) (a) Where the Head of Office is satisfied that the Government servant is not in a position to submit the forms referred to in sub-rule (2) on account of any bodily or mental infirmity, the Head of Office may allow the spouse of the Government servant or, in the absence of the spouse, the member of the family 9 eligible to receive family pension on death of Government servant, to submit [Form 6-A]. (b) If there is no member of the family eligible to receive family pension on death of Government servant, a member of the family in whose favour a nomination was made by the Government servant for payment of gratuity, may be allowed to submit. [Form 6-A] [Provided that where the said form is submitted by the spouse or any other member of the family, the Government servant shall not be entitled to the benefit of commutation of a percentage of pension until he himself subsequently applies for such commutation in accordance with the Central Civil Services (Commutation of Pension) Rules, 1981.] 7. It is apparent from the above stated Rules that Sub-Clause C pertains to the third stage with reference to furnishing of documents of service in order to process the papers of a retiring Employee for the purpose of payment of pension and gratuity. Clause C(iii) permits an Employer to ‘Advise the retired government servant to submit Form 6A’. 8. We have perused Form 6A tendered to us by the parties. Note 2 mentions that a government servant should be the primary bank account holder in the joint bank account. Note 3 indicates that the Head Office may 10 consider circumstances cited by a retired Employee in support of his inability to open a joint bank account for the reasons that could be beyond his control. If the Head Office is satisfied with the reasons, the requirement may be relaxed. This aspect is the crux of the matter. 9. The Petitioner is estranged from his wife. Proceedings for divorce are pending before appropriate Court. The wife has also demanded maintenance and the competent Court has already granted Rs.8,000/- per month as maintenance to the wife, when he was in service. We are not required to narrate all the reasons of the dispute between the Petitioner and his estranged wife. Suffice it to say that the Head Office has to consider the reasons cited by the Employee and if the Head Office is satisfied that such reasons are found to be beyond his control, the bank account in the single name of the Employee can also be permitted. 10. Time and again, the Learned Advocate for Employer has harped upon the Rules to contend that the Respondent Authorities do not have the scope to interpret the Rule differently. Apparently, the Employer as well as the learned Tribunal have lost sight of Note 3, especially the element of satisfaction, which is a discretion available to the Head Office to appreciate 11 the reasons cited by Employee for his/her inability to open a joint bank account with the spouse. 11. On the one hand, we are convinced that the Petitioner has a reason for not opening a joint bank account. His estrangement with his wife in the light of peculiar circumstances that have been narrated to us, which we are not recording entirely in this Judgment, would satisfy any prudent person that it is impossible for him to open a joint bank account. The ground for seeking divorce is that his wife, who married the Petitioner who then was 54 years, was already married and she was having one son from her subsisting marriage. This was suppressed from the Petitioner when the marriage took place. After this came to light, the Petitioner moved for divorce. 12. It is settled position of law that non-payment of gratuity from the date it became payable, attracts statutory interest at the rate of 10% p.a.. Recently, the Hon’ble Supreme Court, in the case of Gagan Bihar Prusty vs. Paradip Port Trust, Special Leave to Appeal (C ) Nos.4468/2022, has concluded that the statutory interest component on the gratuity amount has to be paid by Employer ‘without any excuse’. It is equally settled that pension and gratuity are not a bounty. It is a right of an Employee. Withholding such payment would attract interest for the period of delayed payment. 12 13. It is crystal clear that the Employer, as well as, the learned Tribunal, have failed to appreciate the reasons cited by the Petitioner. Note 3 gives a discretion to the Employer to consider the reasons being cited for not opening a joint bank account. Had the reasons cited by the Petitioner being appreciated in proper perspective, this litigation and deprivation for the last twenty months, as well as the payment of interest from the tax-payers money could have been avoided. 14. In view of the above, this Petition is allowed. The impugned order of the learned Tribunal is quashed and set aside. OA 432 of 2026 stands allowed. The Respondents are directed to pay the arrears of pension, regular pension, as well as the entire gratuity amount, to the Petitioner and deposit the said amount in his bank account mentioned by him in the original Affidavit dated 24.09.2026 (05 pages) being filed today, which is taken on record and marked as ‘X’ for identification. A copy of the Affidavit ‘X’ is supplied by the learned Advocate for the Petitioner to the learned Advocate for the Respondents, in the Court hall. 15. Insofar as the arrears of pension are concerned, we are granting 6% p.a. interest to the Petitioner to be paid by the Respondent/Employer. 13 Insofar as the gratuity is concerned, statutory interest @ 10% p.a. shall be paid to the Petitioner on the gratuity amount for the period of delayed payment commencing from 1st February, 2024 till 30th November, 2026. The Petitioner would be entitled for all retirement monetary benefits as are permissible under law, including the calculation and payment towards Leave Encashment, with simple interest at the rate of 6% p.a. All these amounts, with the interest component, would be deposited in the account of the Petitioner, on or before 30/11/2026. 16. We are conscious of the dispute between the Petitioner and his wife. Insofar as the reasons for discord are concerned, it is the competent Court which will consider the same while dealing with the plea of the Petitioner for divorce. However, the maintenance granted by the competent Court to the wife of the Petitioner, will also have to be paid by the Petitioner. In order to be fair to the Petitioner’s wife, who is not before us, we had called upon the Petitioner to tender an Affidavit declaring therein that he would pay maintenance to his wife until further orders in the pending proceedings between them. It is the said Affidavit ‘X’ that the Petitioner has tendered to the Court and we appreciate his bonafides. We also direct him to place a copy of this Judgment obtained from the official website of the High Court at 14 Calcutta, before the Courts where the litigation between the Petitioner and his wife are on going, only for information. 17. Rule is made absolute in above terms. (OM NARAYAN RAI, J.) (RAVINDRA V. GHUGE) Chief Justice