Supreme Court To Consider Retired HC Judge's Plea Against Deduction Of Pension From Salary Drawn As Ombudsman After Retirement

The Supreme Court on Friday (April 26) issued notice in a matter concerning the issue of deduction of pension from the salary drawn in a post-retirement position of a former High Court Judge.  The Court was considering the plea of Justice KK Denesan, a former judge of the Kerala High Court, who served as an Ombudsman under the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act from 2017 to 2020.

The bench of CJI Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra agreed to consider the issue and observed : 

The petitioner submitted that as per S.271G of Kerala Panchayat Raj Act and Rule 4 of the Ombudsmen, the Former judge of the High Court is entitled to the salary and allowances of a judge of a High Court. There is no provision to the effect that the Ombudsman would be entitled to the lost out salary minus the pension.

Notice was issued to the Office of the Accountant General, Kerala and the State of Kerala.

Senior Advocate Mr V Giri, appearing on behalf of the petitioner, pointed out that under the salary and service conditions under the Ombudsman Rules, he will be entitled to a salary equivalent to a High Court Justice and there is no express provision for deduction of pension from such salary drawn. He also informed the bench that the loss of salary for 3 years was approximately Rs 16 lacs.

The CJI also remarked that the same practice is done in the Armed Force Tribunal (AFT) and National Green Tribunal (NGT) where the pension is deducted from salary but based on existing rules governing them.  

Justice KK Denesan was appointed as an Ombudsman for Local Self Government Institutions in December 2017 post his retirement on April 25, 2007. He had filed a writ petition before the High Court challenging the deduction of his pension amount which he receives as a retired judge from the salary for his present position as an Ombudsman. Therefore he was aggrieved about the deduction of Rs 1,34,000/- (pension amount) from his salary of Rs. 2,25,000/-month being drawn as an Ombudsman.  While the Single Judge allowed the petition, the decision was set aside by the Division Bench.

The Petition Before The High Court 

The petition before the single-judge bench of Justice Anu Sivaraman was allowed. The petitioner relied on S.271G of Kerala Panchayat Raj Act and Rule 4 of the Ombudsmen for Local Self Government Institutions (Inquiry of Complaints and Service Conditions) Rules, 1999 to contend that he was entitled to the salary and allowances as are admissible to a High Court judge. 

The Court held that neither the statute nor the rules permit any deduction of the pension drawn in the capacity of a High Court Judge from the amount payable to the petitioner. The Court noted that when the Court had earlier in this matter, directed the consideration of the representation that was filed before the Accountant General for fixation of salary, this was not done. The Court thereby set aside the order of the Senior Accounts Officer, as well as the letter, which was signed by a Special Secretary for the Additional Chief Secretary to Government which had stated that the petitioner would be entitled to salary by reducing the amount of pension he had been receiving for his service as Judge in the High Court of Kerala and Upalokayukta. 

The Court thus directed the Government to pass an appropriate order granting the benefit of pay and allowances of a High Court Judge to the petitioner. It further directed that the arrears also ought to be disbursed to the petitioner, without delay, within a period of 3 months.

However, in a writ appeal filed by the State Government, the division bench of Justices Amit Rawal and CS Sudha, the earlier directions were set aside.  

Case Details: JUSTICE K.K. DENESAN vs. THE SENIOR ACCOUNTS OFFICER SLP(C) No. 008948 - / 2024 

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