Recovery of excess pay from retiring employee without fault is impermissible.

The applicant was appointed as a Postal Assistant on 21.01.1983 and later as a PO & RMS Accountant on 26.08.1990, receiving a Special Pay of Rs. 90/-, later revised to Rs. 180/- w.e.f. 01.08.1997

On completing 16 years of service, he was granted financial up-gradation under the Time Bound Promotion (TBOP) Scheme w.e.f. 22.01.1999

Initially, this Special Pay was not included in his pay fixation, leading to a representation by the applicant on 08.10.2002

Following a letter from the Postal Directorate dated 10.01.2013, the respondents re-fixed the applicant's pay under FR 22(1)(a)(i) to include the Special Pay of Rs. 180/- w.e.f. 22.01.1999, fixing his pay at Rs. 5125/-, and he continued to draw this pay for several years

When the applicant was about to retire on 28.02.2022, respondent No. 3 issued letters in December 2021 (Annexure A-15) and 04.01.2022 (Annexure A-9), alleging incorrect pay fixation and excluding the Special Pay

Subsequently, a letter dated 17.01.2022 (Annexure A-17) was issued, ordering recovery of Rs. 2,29,515/- from his pay and DCRG

The applicant contended that the re-fixation and recovery were illegal, relying on judicial pronouncements, particularly that recovery at the verge of retirement is barred

Whether the impugned letters dated 04.01.2022, December 2021, and 17.01.2022, excluding Special Pay from the applicant's pay fixation and ordering recovery, are legally sustainable

Whether the cut-off dates mentioned in clause 4 of the letter dated 10.01.2013 are arbitrary and should be quashed

Whether the respondents are precluded from recovering excess payments from the applicant, especially at the verge of his retirement

The Tribunal primarily applied the principle established in *Mohd. Yusuf Khan vs Union of India & Ors.* (O.A. No.290/0463/2015), upheld by the Rajasthan High Court, which held that Special Pay/Special Allowance must be included while fixing pay on promotion/TBOP and that the cut-off dates in the 10.01.2013 letter have no rational basis

It also relied on *S. Mohan Kumar vs Union of India* (O.A. No.296/2002), upheld up to the Supreme Court, for the same principle

For the impermissibility of recovery at the verge of retirement, the Tribunal cited *State of Punjab & Ors. vs Rafiq Masih & Ors.* (2015(1) SCT 195), which established exceptions to recovery, especially when an employee is about to retire and there is no misrepresentation

The principle of natural justice, requiring a show-cause notice and opportunity of hearing before action with civil consequences, as laid down in *Orissa vs Dr. (Miss) Binapani Dei* (AIR 1967 SC 1269), was also applied

The Tribunal found that the respondents' contention, based on clause 4 of the 10.01.2013 letter, was unsustainable because judicial pronouncements had consistently held that Special Pay/Special Allowance must be included in pay fixation upon promotion/TBOP and that the specified cut-off dates lacked a rational basis

The Tribunal noted that the facts of the present case were identical to *Mohd. Yusuf Khan*, which had been upheld by the Rajasthan High Court

Furthermore, benches in Bangalore, Mumbai, Cuttack, and Jaipur had similarly rejected the cut-off dates and directed inclusion of Special Pay

Regarding recovery, the Tribunal concluded it was untenable as the pay was re-fixed by the respondents themselves in 2013 without any misrepresentation or fraud by the applicant, who was at the fag end of his service

This aligned with the Supreme Court's ruling in *Rafiq Masih*, which bars recovery from employees nearing retirement unless there was misrepresentation

Finally, the Tribunal determined that the respondents' actions violated principles of natural justice, as no show cause notice or opportunity of hearing was provided before issuing the impugned letter and ordering recovery, which carries civil consequences

The impugned letters dated 04.01.2022 (Annexure A-9), December 2021 (Annexure A-15), and 17.01.2022 (Annexure A-17) were quashed and set aside

The respondents were directed to continue treating the applicant's pay as correctly fixed by including Special Pay/Allowance of Rs. 180/- w.e.f. 22.01.1999 under the TBOP Scheme, and to grant all consequential benefits

The respondents were further directed not to effect any recovery from the applicant's pay or DCRG