C.W.P. No. 1270 of 2009 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH. C.W.P. No. 1270 of 2009 Date of Decision : May 04, 2011 D.S.Mehta son of Sh. Jagdish Singh Mehta .... PETITIONER Vs. Punjab State Small Industries and Export Corporation Limited and another ..... RESPONDENTS CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH * * * Present : Mr. Tajender K. Joshi, Advocate, for the petitioner. Mr. Pankaj Gupta, Advocate, for the respondent. * * * AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH, J. (ORAL) Pursuant to the order dated 18.04.2011 passed by this Court, whereby the petitioner was directed to appear before the Managing Director of the Punjab State Small Industries and Export Corporation (PSIEC), the petitioner had appeared before the Managing Director. It is stated by the counsel for the parties that the audit objection, which was for an amount of ` 62,589.23, the petitioner has been able to clear that C.W.P. No. 1270 of 2009 2 objection for an amount of ` 40,957/-. An amount of ` 11,705/-, the petitioner had agreed, was rightly withheld and there is a dispute with regard to an amount of ` 9, 927/- which the petitioner claims he is still entitled to but the same has been disputed by the respondent-Corporation. All other claims and dues, which the petitioner had made in his representation dated 19.04.2011 which he had filed before the Managing Director, PSIEC Ltd., Chandigarh, stands settled. Counsel for the petitioner states that the petitioner is entitled to interest on delayed payment of his leave encashment. He retired on 31.10.2003 and a part payment was made on 15.05.2007 amounting to ` 96, 801.77. Amount of ` 62,589.23 was withheld out of which, ` 40,957/- has now been released to the petitioner, the petitioner should be granted interest thereon. Apart from that, he prays that liberty may be granted to the petitioner to file a civil suit and claim ` 9, 927, which has wrongly been withheld by the respondent-Corporation. On hearing the counsel for the parties, I am of the considered view that the petitioner is entitled to interest @ 7% from the date of his retirement till the date the first part payment of leave encashment was made on 15.05.2007. The remaining amount was withheld by the respondents primarily because of an audit objection which the petitioner has been able to partly explain to the Managing Director on 19.04.2011, which amount of ` 40, 957/- has been released to the petitioner. He has further admitted that he is not entitled to an amount of ` 11, 705/-, which indicates that the audit objection was quite justified and, therefore, interest with regard to this amount of ` 40, 957/-, the petitioner would not be entitled to. C.W.P. No. 1270 of 2009 3 As regards the amount of ` 9, 927/- which the petitioner claims to be wrongly withheld as has been disputed by the Corporation, liberty, as sought for by the counsel for the petitioner, is granted for filing civil suit. The interest on the amount of ` 96, 801.77 from the date of his retirement till the date of disbursement of the amount be calculated and released to him within a period of two months' from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order. Counsel for the parties agree that as per order dated 25.04.2011, copy of which has been placed on record, the petitioner has been held entitled to the grant of increment of his promotion. The said amount of increment as also the consequential benefits including pension and other retiral benefits, if any, shall also be calculated and disbursed within the time already stipulated. The writ petition stands disposed of accordingly. (AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH ) May 04, 2011 JUDGE pj