1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN BENCH AT JAIPUR S.B. CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO.87/2004 Rameshwar Lal Choudhary vs. RSRTC & Ors. Date of order : 19/1/2009. HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE MOHAMMAD RAFIQ Shri Amit Jindal for the petitioner. Shri Dharmendra Pareek for the respondent. ****** This writ petition has been filed with the prayer that the respondents be directed to pay to the petitioner interest for the delay in payment of retrial dues. It is not in dispute that all the retrial dues of the petitioner have been paid and he is presently in receipt of pension. The petitioner voluntarily retired from the services of the respondent-RSRTC on 31.12.2000. Payment of his gratuity was made in the sum of Rs.1,78,000/- with delay of 11 months and his pension was also started being paid 15 months after the date of his retirement. The commutation of pension was granted with delay of 27 months. On all these heads, the petitioner is claiming interest. Learned counsel for the respondent has argued that the petitioner was awarded number of penalties throughout his service career and it is submitted that the pension papers 2 submitted by the petitioner are incomplete and when the same were forwarded to the pension authority, certain defects were pointed out and they were returned back to the pension department. Still, the respondents sanctioned provisional pension to the petitioner and finally when all the formalities were completed, the orders were passed. Having considered the case of the petitioner as well as the respondents, I find that even if what is contended by the respondents is accepted, payment of retiral dues had to be made to an employee within a reasonable time period of date of his retirement. Although the respondents have made general statement with regard to time consumed in process and have sought to shift the burden on the petitioner himself that he should have timely prepared his own pension case but no specific particulars have been given as to in what manner the delay was attributable to the petitioner and what was required of him which he did not do in time. Right of a government servant to timely receive retiral benefits has been protected by Rule 89 of the Rajasthan Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1996 which 3 provides that the government is under legal obligation to make payment of all retiral benefits of a retired government servant within a period of 60 days and in any case if payment is delayed beyond 60 days, a government servant is entitled to the interest @9% p.a. on the delayed payment. In the present case, all retiral dues have been paid to the petitioner at a belated stage much beyond the period of 60 days. Petitioner is therefore entitled to receive interest on the delayed payment of retiral dues excluding the period of 60 days. In the result, the writ petition is allowed. The respondents are directed to release all due post retiral benefits in favour of the petitioner together with interest @ 9% per annum beyond 60 days from the date of his retirement till its payment to the petitioner. Compliance of this order shall be made within a period of three months from the date its copy is produced before the respondents. (MOHAMMAD RAFIQ), J. RS/