PATNA, India, Feb. 21 -- Patna High Court issued the following judgment on Jan. 20:

1. Following is the relief sought for in the present contempt application:-

"1. That this application is being filed on behalf of the aforesaid petitioner for initiation of contempt proceeding against O.P. No. 01 who has knowingly violated/disobeyed the order of this Hon'ble High Court passed in M.A. No. 772/2009 dated 27/08/2010 by a division bench of this Hon'ble High Court ...."

2. Before coming to the merits of the case, it is necessary to mention some relevant facts that M.A. No. 772 of 2009 was disposed of vide order dated 27.08.2010 on the basis of a settlement arrived between both the parties, Para-10 of the said order records the same, which is reproduced hereinbelow:-

"10. Only for the sake of clarification the salient features of the agreement are summarized hereinbelow. (i) The marriage between the parties shall be deemed to be subsisting. (ii) Parties have agreed to live separately and not to interfere with each others private lives. (iii) They have agreed not to pursue any civil or criminal case against each other. (iv) The husband shall ensure that the competent authority of his Department, Railway Mail Service shall send every month to the wife 50% of his monthly salary after deducting only Rs. 6260/- per month which is presently being deducted till the scooter loan and such other loans are liquidated. It is also agreed that the deduction shall include any compulsory deduction on account of income tax over the salary income."

3. Thereafter, O.P. No. 1 (wife of the petitioner) filed M.J.C. No. 1896 of 2021 arising out of M.A. No. 772 of 2009. The said contempt application was disposed of vide order dated 30.11.2023. Following observations were made in Para-5 & Para-6 of the said order:-

"5. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that retired employee has not been paid pension on account of his attaining age of superannuation and retired from service in the month of June, 2023. This issue cannot be adjudicated in contempt of Court petition that apart it is a fresh cause of action to the employee or to the petitioner. Ordinary, the State-Central Government will not stop pension. If it is not paid the concerned authority is hereby directed to examine and redress the same in this regard. The employee is hereby directed to furnish a detailed representation in so far as fixation of retiral benefits and pension if such application or representation is submitted the concerned authority will examine and pass appropriate order within a reasonable period of time.

6. With the above observation, the present MJC stands dropped. The above grievance is required to be agitated by retired employee only."

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://patnahighcourt.gov.in/viewjudgment/MTAjMTM0NiMyMDI1IzEjTg==-XdY9qT5w5d4=)

Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.