MP HC Applies SC Ruling, Bars Recovery Of ₹17.75 Lakh From Doctor’s Pension

The petitioner filed a petition under Article 226 challenging recovery from his pension under orders dated 12 December 2014 and 12 September 2016. He sought, among other reliefs, return of ₹17,75,952 with interest and release of his pensionary benefits without the recovery

He relied on the Supreme Court’s decision in M.P. Medical Officers Association v. The State of Madhya Pradesh and Others, Civil Appeal No. 5527 of 2022, dated 26 August 2022

Article 226 of the Constitution empowers the High Court to grant appropriate writ relief.

In M.P. Medical Officers Association v. The State of Madhya Pradesh and Others, the Supreme Court held that, where employees had received benefits under the State-issued circular dated 23 May 2009 without misrepresentation, recovery of those benefits with interest was not justified; however, pay fixation and pension were to be worked out under the order dated 26 August 2008, as if the circular had never been issued. The Supreme Court noted that State of Punjab v. Rafiq Masih, (2015) 4 SCC 334, was not strictly applicable, but relief against recovery was warranted on the particular facts

The petitioner relied on the Supreme Court ruling addressing recovery of benefits paid under the same circular and the consequential treatment of pay and pension

The High Court considered that ruling in light of the circumstances of the petitioner’s case and directed that its principles apply mutatis mutandis. It did not set out a separate factual or legal analysis of the petitioner’s individual recovery; instead, it adopted the Supreme Court’s directions for the case.

Accordingly, recovery of the excess amount paid under the circular dated 23 May 2009 up to its withdrawal on 30 May 2012 was not to be made, while pay fixation and pension were to be worked out under the order dated 26 August 2008, as if the circular had never been issued