IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CWJC No.5055 of 2001 DR. PARAS NATH PRASAD S/O Late Pundeo Prasad Sah, resident of Mohalla- Magistrate Colony, P.S. Shastri Nagar, Patna-25. Versus 1. THE STATE OF BIHAR 2. The Chief Secretary, Govt. of Bihar, Patna. 3. Health Commissioner, Health Medical Education and Family Welfare Department, Government of Bihar, Patna. 4. Accountant General of Bihar, R. Block, Patna. ----------- 6 24.08.2010 Heard Mr. Shivaji Pandey, learned senior counsel for the petitioner and learned counsel for the State. Prayer of the petitioner in this writ application reads as follows:- “That this is an application for giving direction to the respondent. 1.To pay Rs.13,139.02 towards arrear salalry. 2.To pay the interest on Rs.13,139.02 from due date till the date of actual payment. 3.Interest on the amount of Rs.3229185/- from 4.1.95 to 29th March 1995 and further interest on total amount till the date of actual payment. 4.The respondent may be directed to supply the chart showing the calculation of arrear salary and on interest.” The aforementioned prayer, in fact, emerges out of the long drawn 20 years dispute, inasmuch as, way back on 15.9.1989 this Court while disposing of the earlier writ application of the petitioner i.e. C.W.J.C. No. 107 of 1987 in the operative portion had issued the following directions:- “To conclude I hold that (i) the petitioner is entitled to be promoted to Junior Selection Grade, Senior Selection Grade and Super Time Scale of pay with effect from the due date; (ii) the petitioner is entitled to receive the difference of pay at each selection grade of promotion and fixation of pay including the Super Time Scale of pay and also 2 entitled to fixation of pay in the Super Time Scale of pay for the purposes of determination of pension, gratuity etc. and, accordingly receive pension gratuity etc. with effect from the due date. I shall be failing in meeting the demand of justice if I do not at this stage also hold that by withholding promotion and, accordingly, payment of emoluments including salary to the petitioner and also denying the petitioner actual pension, gratuity etc. the respondents have committed grave injustice to the petitioner. There is no other way but to compensate the petitioner for the loss caused to him by an order of payment of interest at the rate of 15% compoundable per annum on such amount of salary and other allowances etc. to which the petitioner was entitled and not paid to him and similarly upon the amount of pension, gratuity etc. with effect from the due date. Any lump sum amount of compensation is not mentioned for the reason that it is not known as to what amount may finally be worked out. It is a case, however, in which, in my view, the respondents must pay to the petitioner the cost of litigation, consolidated hearing fee Rs.3,000/-” The subject matter of this writ application entitling the petitioner for payment of salary and emoluments with interest in the Super Time Scale of pay as also the consequential benefits of pension and gratuity was thereafter definitely undergone by the respondents and in fact from the order of this Court dated 21.2.1994 passed in contempt application filed by the petitioner arising out of C.W.J.C. No. 107 of 1987, it would be manifest that this Court had found that there was no contempt on the part of the authorities who had made payment of the admissible principal amount and the issue of interest was to be only examined. It has to be, however, noted that after such contempt petition, M.J.C. No.439 of 1991 of the petitioner was disposed of on 21.2.1994 he had filed another writ application and this time he 3 had claimed salary and emoluments of the post of Additional Director as also consequential retirement benefits on the pay scale of the post of Additional Director. That writ application C.W. J.C. No.9311 of 1994 was also allowed by this Court by order dated 14.3.1996 the operative portion whereof reads as follows:- “In the result, the writ application is allowed and the respondents are directed to issue notification in regard to the salary and the consequential post and retiral dues of the petitioner as against the post of Additional Director, Health Services from which he superannuated. Having regard to the aforesaid facts the petitioner is also entitled for heavy interest at the rate of 15% per annum over the remaining dues till the date of actual payment and cost, which is assessed at Rs.2,000/- (Two thousand) payable to the petitioner also along with the entire dues within a month from today.” As would be apparent from the aforementioned direction, this Court had ultimately held the petitioner to be entitled for the post of Additional Director and also salary and emoluments of the aforesaid post of Additional Director as well as for payment of the retirement benefits in the pay scale of Additional Director. Thereafter, the Government had notified such promotion of the post of Additional Director and had made certain payments, but when the petitioner was not satisfied with the same he had filed another contempt application, M.J.C. No. 213 of 2003. In the said contempt petition a show cause was filed by the then Departmental Secretary explaining that the petitioner was paid each and every farthing of his admissible dues. In terms of said show cause such contempt petition had already been dropped, 4 but the petitioner even after being made aware to the filing of second contempt petition and the dropping of the proceedings, with a copy of the counter affidavit served on the counsel for the petitioner on 14.7.2006, has neither chosen to controvert nor sought to explain as to why he did not choose himself to make this Court aware as with regard to the subsequent events. In that view of the matter, claim of the petitioner of short payment of Rs.13,139/- as explained in Annexure-12 and 13 of the writ application would now lose also its relevance because thereafter the petitioner’s salary in pay scale on the post of Additional Director has been calculated and paid. In fact, such grievance of the petitioner having been noticed in the later contempt application and the same having been explained by the respondents leading to dropping of contempt proceeding on recording the fact all admissible payment were made to the petitioner, would not now leave this court to make fresh determination on the same issue, which even otherwise can be made in view of the settled principles of resjudicata and constructive resjudicata. As a matter of fact, this Court at one point of time was inclined to impose heavy cost on the petitioner for suppression of fact of filing M.J.C, no. 213 of 2003 and the subsequent events as noted above but as the petitioner is a retired employee this Court would only give the petitioner benefit of doubt and would exempt him for such costs. 5 That being so, it must be held that payment of each and every farthing as admissible and payable for his entire length of service has already been made to the petitioner and nothing now remains to be paid to the petitioner. This application is, accordingly, dismissed. Abhay Kumar ( Mihir Kumar Jha, J.)