MUJAHID MUST AQEEM AHMED, J.----The petitioner , who had served Municipal Corporation, Multan, stood retired as. Assistant Land Officer (Leases) BPS-14 after attaining the age of superannuation vide office order dated 27.12.2014 w,e,f, 07.02.2015 and his pension/commutation case was processed, but vide order dated 26.02.2016 a sum of Rs,3,29,584/- was withheld till settlement of audit paras pertaining to fiscal years 2008, 2010 and 2011.
The petitioner approached this Court by filing W.P. No,2948 of 2016, which was remitted to the Chief Officer, Municipal Corporation, Multan for its decision as representation of the petition er. Vide impugned order dated 19.03.2018, the representation of the petitioner was decided in the following terms:- " ...In the light of the recommendations and views of Municipal Officer (Finance) as well as Government Instructors vide Letter No. FD(M-Rec)2-18/2001 (Advice) dated 14.12.2006, it is required that the petitioner may provide an undertaking on stamp paper that in case of recovery is established against him, he will liable to make the payment.
If the petitioner provide such under taking to the M.C. Multan, his case for releasing of withheld amount will be placed before the Mayor , M.C, Multan for sanction. At the same time M.0 (F) is requested to hold an enquiry into the case of petitioner for establishing recovery against him or otherwise. With above mentioned observation, the case stands disposed of."
2. By filing instant writ petition in terms of Article, 199 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, the petitioner has assailed the above order mainly on the grounds of against facts, law/pension rules and as such the same is not sustainable.
3. In response to this writ petition, report and para-wise comments have been submitted by the respondents.
4. Arguments heard. Record perused.
5. Rule 1.8 of The Punjab Civil Services Pension Rules, 1963 is relevant to the issue in hand, which reads as under:- "1.8(a) Good conduct is an implied condition of every kind of pension. Government may withhold or withdraw a pension or any part of it if the pensioner be convicted of serious crime or be found to have been guilty of grave misconduct either during or after the completion of his service, provided that before any order to this effect is issued, (the pension sanctioning authority shall give full opportunity to the pensioner to vindicate his position).
(b) Government reserves to themselves the right of recovery from the pension of Government pensioner on account of losses found in judicial or departmental proceedings to have been caused to Government by the negligence, or fraud of such Governm ent pensioner during his service, provided that such departmental proceedings shall not be instituted after more than a year from the date of retirement of the Government pensioner ..."
(emphasis supplied)
There is no denial that pension benefits of the petitioner have been withheld by the Municipal Corporation, Multan to settle audit objections/ paras pertainin g to fiscal years 2008 to 2011, raised against the then TMO. Admittedly , the petitioner stood retired on 07.02.2015, but till then no legal action was taken against the petitioner in respect of aforesaid objections. Two years after his retirement order , specific amount from pension of the petitioner has been withheld to settle the audit objections by the department that too without affording right of audience to the petitioner , as such the respondents have blatantly violated the above referred pension rule. But before passing of impugned order no action has been taken by the Municipal Corporation, Multan fixing the liability of the petitioner or some other of ficer of the Municipal Corporation.
6. In case "Province of the Punjab through Secretary , Livestock and Dairy Development Department, Punjab, Lahore and others v.Syed Munir Hussain Shah " (1998 SCMR 1326 ), the Hon'ble Supreme Court of Pakistan while interpreting the above rule observed as under:- "5. A perusal of these rules and the provisions of the Punjab Civil Servants Act, 1974 and particularly section 18 shows that they are not in conflict with each other . In case of excess amount havin g been paid or in the judicial or departmental proceedings any amount found due from a retired Government servant as a result of losses caused to Government can be recovered from him. The condition precedent for such recovery is that the losses are found in judicial or departmental proceedings to have been caused to Government by the negligence or fraud of such Government pensioner . Time limit has also been fixed for such departmental proceedings inasmuch as no such inquiry can be held after one year of the retirement of a pensioner . We are fortified in this view by a judgment of this Court reported as The Government of N.-W .F.P. through the Secretary to the Government of N.-W .F.P.
Communication and Works Department, Peshawar v . Muhammad Said Khan and another (PLD 1973 SC 514 )."
(emphasis supplied by me)
In case "Ehsan-ul-Haque v. Executive Engineer , Ahmadpur Canal Division Ahmadpur East and 2 others " (2011 PLC (C.S.) 1523 ), it has been held by this Court that no inquiry could be conducted against the employee after one year of his superannuation as manifested in proviso of Rule 1.8(6) of the Punjab Civil Servants Pension Rules, 1963.
7. In case "Muhammad Siddique v. Divisional Forest Officer , Okara" (2014 PLC (C.S.) 253) (relevant page at 262), it has been held by this Court as under:- "A plain reading of both clauses (a) and (b) of above cited rule would however , make it at once clear that each clause is a self-contained and independ ent provision designed to cover two entirely different situations. Under clause (a) maintenance of "good conduct" is made an inseparable condition for the grant or continuance of pension to a government servant and the government reserves to itself plenary power to withhold or withdraw a pension or any part thereof if the pensioner is convic ted for serious crime or found guilty of grave misconduct whether during or after completion of his service. Admittedly clause (a) is not attracted to the facts of instant case as the petitioner has neither been convicted for serious crime nor found guilty of grave misconduct during or after completion of his service. Clause (b) of rule 1.8, however , empowers the government to order recovery from the pension of the whole or any part of any pecuniary loss caused to the government if the pensioner is found in departmental or judicial proceedings to have been guilty of grave misconduct or negligence during his service. This clause also does not rescue the respondent as neither the petitioner during his service was found, in judicial or departmental proceedings, guilty of causing losses due to his negligence or fraud nor any departmental proceedings were initiated against the petitioner within a year from the date of his retirement and this view finds support from the judgment rendered by the Hon'ble Suprem e Court of Pakistan in the case of The Government of N.-.W .F.P. through Secretary of the Government N.-W .F.P. Communication and Works Department, Peshawar v. Muhammad Said Khan and another (PLD 1973 SC 514 )..."
Similar view was taken in case "Khuda Bakhsh v. Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Faisalabad and others" (2004 PLC (C.S.) 824), "Chief Secretary , Government of Sindh and another v. Umar -ud-Din" (2007 PLC (C.S.) 662), Rana Muhammad Ali v. Food Development (C.A-70 of 2006) decided by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of Pakistan on 10.05.2007 and "Naseer Hussain Chughtai v.The Secretary to Government of Punjab, Forestry , Wildlife and Fisheries Department and others " (NLR 2009 Service 53 Lahore).
8. It may not be out of place to mention that one major attraction in government service, despite poor remuneration package, is the benefit of receiving pension after retirement. But this lawful prospect right somewhat became problematic which worsened the woes of retired government servants. The failure of government to meet the pension expectation of retirees ended up shattering the plans of many as well as including economic trauma, which in some cases had led to fatalities. Indeed, many senior citizens who had no other source of earning a living after service had collapsed and died while in queues waiting for their pensions. It was in such a situation that the Hon'ble Supreme Court of Pakistan in the pronouncement reported as "Haji Muham mad Ismail Memon, Advocate Complainant: In matter of Criminal Miscellaneous Application No,226 of 2006 (PLD 2007 Supreme Court 35) took serious notice of pathetic condition of government servants, who after having served for a considerable long period during which they give their blood and sweat to the department had to die in a miserable condition on account of non-payment of pension/pensionary benefits etc. and passed various directions to government functionaries to ensure timely payment of pension and other service benefits to such retired officers/employees. No doubt, in order to ameliorate this situation, the government has taken some positive steps and even legislative measures in the line of judgment supra but there are still issues that are yet to be resolved for timely release of pension and other pensionary benefits. The government functionaries are not adhering to such remedial steps and thus are willfully violating the sincere efforts made by the government and even the directions issued by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of Pakistan in the judgment supra, which may be reproduced hereunder:- "8. We, therefore, direct that all the Government Departments, Agencies and Officers deployed to serve the general public within the limits by the Constitution as well as by the law shall not cause unnecessary hurdle or delay in finalizing the payment of pensionary/retirement benefits cases in future and violation of these directions shall amount to criminal negligence and dereliction of the duty assigned to them. Thus having noticed such miserable condition prevailing in the department particularly relating to the payment of the pension to retired Government servants or widows or orphan children, we direct all the Chief Secretaries of the Provincial Governments as well as the Accountant Generals and the Accountant General Pakistan Revenue, Islamabad, to ensure future strict adherence of the pension rules reproduced hereinabove and clear such cases within a period not more than two weeks without fail.
9.............
10. The object in issuance of above directions to the concerned authorities is only to make them realize their duties and responsibilities, which they owe to the retiring government servants.
11. We also direct that in future if there is any delay in the finalization of the pension benefits cases of the government servants, widows or orphan children and matter is brought to the notice of this Court, the head of the concerned department shall also be held liable for the contempt of the Court and shall be dealt with strictly in accordance with law ."
No need to reiterate that Article 189 of The Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, bounds all the Executive / Administrative Authorities/Cou rts in Pakistan to comply with the orders of the Hon'ble Supreme Court.
The concerned officers should keep faith with their obligations to pensioners. It appears that majority of the functionaries in authority and their subord inates are not cognizant of the fact that if situation does not change with the passage of time they will also face the same music. Whereas if at presen t they leave their bureaucratic, negligent and lethargic style and play their positive role to improve the condition of pensioners and regulate the system to deal with such issues in shortest possible time it will be their great service to the nation and memorable services in this regard will be commended by the nation and the government officers/retired employees in particular .
9. For what has been discussed above, the instant writ petition is allowed, the impugned order , dated 19.03.2018 passed by respondent No,3 is set aside and the respondents are directed to release the above withheld amount of pension of the petitioner forthwith.