CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO.11471 OF 2010 :{ 1 }: IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH DATE OF DECISION: AUGUST 05, 2011 Jiwan Singh .....Petitioner VERSUS State of Punjab and others ....Respondents CORAM:- HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE RANJIT SINGH 1. Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgement? 2. To be referred to the Reporters or not? 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest? PRESENT: Mr. Anupam Bhardwaj, Advocate, for the petitioner. Mr. A. S. Jattana, Addl.A.G., Punjab, for the State. **** RANJIT SINGH, J. The petitioner has served in the Health Department, Punjab, with effect from 1.6.1977. After putting in 32 years of service, he retired on 31.3.2009. During his service, the petitioner was granted benefit of proficiency step up on completion of 8 years of service followed by second proficiency step up on completion of 16 years of service. Subsequently, on the basis of instructions dated 21.1.2009, an amount of `61,793/- was deducted from the death- cum-retirement gratuity payable to the petitioner after his retirement CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO.11471 OF 2010 :{ 2 }: on the ground that he had been allowed some excess payment, which he had withdrawn. It is stated that pay of the petitioner was got wrongly fixed, when the benefit of 16 years of assured career progression scheme was granted to him. The said mistake has been rectified and his pay has accordingly been re-fixed. Counsel for the petitioner has sought support from the Full Bench decision of this Court in Budh Ram etc. Vs. State of Haryana, 2009(3) SCT 333, to urge that there was no misrepresentation or fraud on the part of the petitioner and accordingly if some payment was wrongly allowed to the petitioner, the same can not be recovered and certainly not from death-cum- retirement gratuity. This legal position is not in serious dispute. In view of the settled position of law, the recovery, as ordered by the respondents can not be sustained and the same is set-aside. Directions are issued to refund this amount to the petitioner within a period of three weeks from the receipt of copy of this order. The writ petition is accordingly disposed of. August 05, 2011 (RANJIT SINGH ) khurmi JUDGE