Kerala HC orders disbursal of pension of former VC Ciza Thomas
'This court cannot ignore the gross injustice meted out to such a distinguished government servant. We will have to protect her pensionary right, which is a property right under the Constitution, and it cannot be denied as such unless by a procedure established by law.
A bench of Justices A Muhamed Mustaque and Johnson John noted that the government exercised its authority and power to 'harass' Thomas for taking up the VC's office at the instance of the chancellor, the then Governor Arif Mohammed Khan.
Kochi, May 30 (PTI) The Kerala High Court held on Friday that the state government withholding the pension of Ciza Thomas, former vice-chancellor of the A P J Abdul Kalam Technological University, was a violation of her fundamental rights and directed that her entire terminal benefits be released within two weeks.
'In view of the above, we direct the official respondents (government) to release the entire terminal benefits due to her within two weeks from today,' the bench said.
It said the question of interest payable on the amount can be left to the Administrative Tribunal to decide.
The bench came to the finding after noting that the disciplinary proceedings initiated against Thomas were quashed by the high court and no judicial proceedings were pending against her.
It said the Kerala Service Rules allow the state government to withhold pension only when departmental proceedings or judicial proceedings are pending.
'In the absence of any pending departmental or judicial proceedings, the government cannot withhold pensionary benefits of Dr Ciza Thomas.
'We note that the government exercised its authority and power in flagrant violation of her fundamental rights and to harass her for taking up the office of the vice-chancellor at the instance of the chancellor, the then governor,' the bench said.
The order came on a plea moved by Thomas seeking a direction to the government to disburse her regular pension, arrears and all other terminal benefits.
According to the court, the only justification given by the government for the delay in disbursing the pensionary benefits was that it has filed a review petition in the Supreme Court against the dismissal of its special leave petition challenging a Kerala High Court order that set aside its show-cause notice to Thomas as part of the disciplinary action initiated against her.
The action was initiated after she retired in March 2023 as the principal of the Government Engineering College, Thiruvananthapuram.
The government was of the view that she violated the Government Servants Conduct Rules by assuming the office of the vice-chancellor. PTI HMP RC
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
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