Service-benefit grievances may be pursued under Bihar’s 2019 Government Servant Grievance Redressal Rules.

The petitioner, a former Superintending Engineer/Secretary (Technical) in the Rural Works Department, sought relief concerning several service and retirement-related claims, including recovery of HRA, HRA and transport allowance, unpaid salary, transfer travelling allowance, ACP arrears, voluntary retirement allegedly obtained under pressure, and pensionary benefits

The State objected that the petitioner’s grievances were covered by the Bihar Government Servant Grievance Redressal Rules, 2019 (“Rules of 2019”)

The Court considered the definition of “complaint” in Rule 2(c) and the complaint-filing procedure in Rule 3

1. Whether the petitioner’s service and retirement-benefit grievances were covered by the complaint mechanism under the Rules of 2019

2. Whether the writ petition should be disposed of with liberty to the petitioner to pursue that mechanism

Rule 2(c) of the Rules of 2019 defines a “complaint” to include specified matters concerning government service and service benefits, including salary, increments, ACP/MACP, allowances, and retirement benefits; it excludes, among other matters, issues already under consideration before a court, disciplinary or departmental action, and transfer, posting, or deputation

Rule 3(a) permits serving or retired State Government employees to file service- or retirement-related complaints online, while Rule 3(b) requires a separate application for each subject

The Court accepted the State’s preliminary objection after considering the scope of “complaint” and the procedure prescribed by the Rules of 2019

It treated the petitioner’s grievances as matters for that mechanism and directed him to file a complaint within the prescribed period.

The Court did not separately assess the merits of the individual claims or determine whether any particular claim fell within an express exclusion in Rule 2(c)

It directed the competent authority, upon filing, to pass orders within the time specified by those Rules.

The writ petition was disposed of without adjudication on the merits of the petitioner’s claims