IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) THURSDAY, THE TWENTY SEVENTH DAY OF NOVEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE N.V. RAMANA WRIT PETITION NO : 23283 of 2008 Between: Annaboina Mallaiah, S/o. Late Lingaiah, From M/s. Singareni Collieries Company Limited, R/o. H.No. 9-6-305, Kistampalle, Kamanpur Village and Mandal, Karimnagar District. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 Regional Commissioner, O/o. Coad Mines Provident Fund I.B. Colony, Near Bus Stand, Godavarikhani, Karimnagar District. 2 General Manager, M/s. Singareni Collieries Company Limited, RG-II Area, Godavarikhani, Karimnagar District. .....RESPONDENT(S) Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed herein the High Court will be pleased to issue a Writ or order or direction, more preferably in the nature of Writ of Mandamus, declaring the inaction on the part of the respondent sin not releasing the montly pension amounts to Rs. 2,229/- together with arrears of pension from 01-09- 2005 and onwards, in favour of the petitioner, as illegal, arbitrary and unconstitutional, being violative of Articles 14, 19(i)(g) and 21 of the Constitution of India and also violative of Principles of natural justice, doctrine of legitimate expectation and principles of promissory estoppel and consequently direct the respondent no.1 to release the monthly pension amount of Rs. 2,229/- from here onwards together with the arrears of pension from 01-09-2005 and onwards and credit the amounts to the petitioners computerized Savings Band/Recurring Deposit Account No. 52176613726 of State Bank of Hyderabad, Kamanpur Branch, Karimnagar District Counsel for the Petitioner: MR.GANTARAMAKRISHNA Counsel for Respondent No.1: MR.R.N.REDDY (SC FOR EMPLOY'S PF ORG.) Counsel for Respondent No.2: Sri J. Prabhakar The Court made the following : ORDER: In this writ petition, the petitioner is seeking the following relief: “to issue a Writ or order or direction, more preferably in the nature of Writ of Mandamus, declaring the inaction on the part of the respondent sin not releasing the montly pension amounts to Rs. 2,229/- together with arrears of pension from 01-09-2005 and onwards, in favour of the petitioner, as illegal, arbitrary and unconstitutional, being violative of Articles 14, 19(i) (g) and 21 of the Constitution of India and also violative of Principles of natural justice, doctrine of legitimate expectation and principles of promissory estoppel and consequently direct the respondent no.1 to release the monthly pension amount of Rs. 2,229/- from here onwards together with the arrears of pension from 01-09- 2005 and onwards and credit the amounts to the petitioners computerized Savings Band/Recurring Deposit Account No. 52176613726 of State Bank of Hyderabad, Kamanpur Branch, Karimnagar District.” It is stated in the affidavit filed in support of the writ petition that the petitioner joined the service of the 2nd respondent – Company as a Coal Cutter and after working for several years, took voluntary retirement from service under ‘Golden Hand Shake Scheme’ offered by the respondent – Company and was accordingly relieved from the service on 01-09-2005. It is also stated that the petitioner made an application to the 1st respondent for release of the monthly pension benefit as per the Coal Mines Provident Fund Scheme, 1998 and to credit the same to his S.B Account No. 01190005188 of State Bank of Hyderabad, Kamanpur Branch, which was being operated by him. His account number was subsequently changed due to computerization of the bank and now the same is No. 52176613726. Pursuant to the said application made by the petitioner, the 1st respondent addressed letter dated 22-06-2006 to the petitioner stating that his request for grant of monthly pension has been settled and his monthly pension was fixed at Rs.2,229/-. It is the grievance of the petitioner that in spite of the same, the respondents have not remitted any amount to his account so far though he has intimated the change of his account number. Hence the writ petition. The respondents have filed the counter affidavit, wherein in para 3 it is stated as under: “Without prejudice to our contentions, it is submitted that the account particulars furnished to this organization were that of the old account and therefore it could not be identified. Based on the information furnished in this writ petition, we could identified the same and the pension payment release order is ready and the same shall be remitted to his bank account.” It is not clear from the counter affidavit as to whether the respondents agreed to pay the arrears to the petitioner from the date of retirement i.e., from 01-09-2005 or not. On instructions, Sri J. Prabhakar, learned Standing Counsel for the 2nd respondent – Company stated that because of some communication gap the amount has not been deposited and that the amount including the arrears from 01-09-2005 would be deposited within a period of four weeks. Recording the said statement of the learned Standing Counsel, the writ petition is closed. N.V. RAMANA, J 27-11-2008 ks