IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT:- THE HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MR.H.L.DATTU & THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE K.M.JOSEPH WEDNESDAY, THE 20TH FEBRUARY 2008 /1ST PHALGUNA 1929 W.A.No.190 of 2008 ---------------------------------------- (AGAINST THE JUDGMENT IN O.P.No.8160 OF 1998 DATED 4-9-2007) ............................ APPELLANT/ PETITIONER:- ------------------------------------- C.G.VENKITESWARA PAI, 43/353, P.H.EXTENSION ROAD, ERNAKULAM, KOCHI-682 018. BY ADV. SRI.S.EASWARAN RESPONDENT/ RESPONDENT:- ------------------------------------------- STATE OF KERALA, REPRESENTED BY THE CHIEF SECRETARY, SECRETARIAT, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM. BY SENIOR GOVERNMENT PLEADER SMT.K.MEERA. THIS WRIT APPEAL HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 20/02/2008, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:- H.L.Dattu, C.J. & K.M.Joseph, J. ---------------------------------------------- W.A.No.190 of 2008 ---------------------------------------------- Dated, this the 20th day of February, 2008 JUDGMENT K.M.Joseph,J. The petitioner in the writ petition is the appellant. The writ petition was filed seeking to quash Exhibit P3 and to direct the respondent to effect payment of Rs.2,34,677/-. The said amount was claimed as balance amount due to the appellant. 2. The appellant is a lottery agent. The appellant was, under the terms of the Rules, expected to lodge his claim for commission within thirty days from the date of the draw. But, in this case, he made such a claim belatedly, for Rs.6,02,201/-. The Government considered the claim of the appellant and condoned the delay up to 180 days and, accordingly, effected payment of Rs.3,74,999/-. The claim for balance amount was rejected. The appellant had approached this Court earlier and this Court by judgment dated 12/01/1998 had directed the appellant to make a representation to the respondent seeking condonation of delay for the period beyond 180 days. The respondent was also directed to consider the said representation of the appellant within one month thereafter. The representation came to be rejected by the respondent by Exhibit P3. 3. The learned Single Judge found that even in respect of the period up to 180 days, despite the fact that there was no recommendation by the Director of Lotteries, the Government had accepted the delay up to 180 days. The learned Single Judge took note of the fact that the Rule requires the recommendation by the Director and sufficient reasons to the satisfaction of the Government for entertaining belated claims. The case set up by the appellant was that his employees were on work to rule strike from September 1995 to May 1996. It was found by the Government that during the period in question, W.A.No.190 of 2008 - 2 - the appellant was carrying on his business as usual from his five offices and that the alleged strike had not affected his functioning in any manner. The learned Single Judge, accordingly, rejected the writ petition accepting the version of the Government. 4. Sri.S.Easwaran, the learned counsel appearing for the appellant would contend that the Director had no objection in sanctioning the amount on the basis of the evidence adduced by the appellant before him. It is further submitted that it was not the case of the appellant was he was not conducting the business and the contention of the appellant was that since his staff were on work to rule strike, he was not able to sort out the result of the draws and forward the same within thirty days. 5. There cannot be any dispute that the appellant is entitled to commission on the prized tickets. It so happened that there was delay in submitting the claim. That delay was explained on the basis of the fact that the employees were on work to rule strike. We would think that the Government is expected to take a liberal approach, as otherwise there will be unjust enrichment. Accordingly, we allow the appeal and the writ petition filed by the appellant. The order Exhibit P3 is quashed and there will also be a direction to the respondent to re-consider the issue keeping in view the observations made by us in the course of the order. H.L.Dattu Chief Justice K.M.Joseph vku/- Judge