CUTTACK, India, April 14 -- Orissa High Court issued the following order on March 12:

1. Petitioner, a retired Statistical Investigator, is knocking at the doors of the Writ Court for assailing the Orissa Administrative Tribunal's order dated 05.10.2018 (Annexure-9) whereby his O.A No.3131(C) of 2015 has been negatived. In the said OA, he had called in question the Screening Committee's endorsement dated 27.05.2015, whereby his 3rd stage RACP was reduced from Rs.6600/- to Rs.5400/- on the ground that it was wrongly conferred on him.

2. Learned counsel for the Petitioner canvasses a twofold argument for voiding the order of the Tribunal: Firstly, the cadre of the Petitioner is Group-C and therefore, post retirement no recovery could have been ordered whether the grant was made rightly or wrongly. In support of this, he presses into service Apex court decision in Jogeswar Sahoo v. The District Judge, Cuttack, 2025 INSC 449, more particularly para 18(i) & (ii). Secondly, recovery of the kind could not have been made sans an opportunity of hearing, inasmuch as recovery is a civil consequence, which cannot be brought about in violation of principle of natural justice. Learned ASC appearing for the opposite parties resists the petition making submission in justification of the Tribunal's order and the reasons on which it has been structured. He tells that the decision in Jogeswar Sahoo supra is not applicable to the case, as Petitioner had admittedly given an undertaking to refund he is not entitled to. He also quotes Rule 68 of the Pension Rules, 1992 in support of the impugned order.

3. Having heard learned counsel for the parties and having perused the petition papers, this Court is inclined to grant a limited indulgence in the matter as under and for the following reasons:

3.1. Petitioner was appointed as Statistical Investigator on 17.03.1982 and he reported for duty on 19.03.1982. Initially, he was in the pay scale of Rs.9300/- - 34800/- with grade pay of Rs.4200/-. Pursuant to the RACP Policy, he was granted RACP-1 Grade Pay of Rs.4600/- & RACP-2 Grade Pay of Rs.5400/- & RACP-3 Grade Pay of Rs.6600/-. All this was w.e.f 01.03.2013, inasmuch by that, he had already put in a long and spotless service of 30 years. It hardly needs to be stated that first RACP is after ten years, second after 20 years and third after 30 years.

3.2. It is not in dispute that the Petitioner was not given an opportunity of hearing before the Screening Committee took the decision, may be after verifying the factuals. Even God is said to have given an opportunity of hearing to Adam & Eve before punishing them for eating the proscribed apple in the Eden Garden. If that be so, we fail to understand why no opportunity was given to the Petitioner before directing the recovery pursuant to the impugned order of the Screening Committee.

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://hcservices.ecourts.gov.in/ecourtindiaHC/cases/display_pdf.php?filename=rC8SUFuyEFsvB5V61cXUrH1TjIMDP%2F09%2B4kxup3L1mIBhys13a2aZZpTvVCKWma0&caseno=WP(C)/18379/2018&cCode=1&cino=ODHC010544102018&state_code=11&appFlag=)

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