Terminal benefits may be applied to cooperative dues with consent, subject to further proceedings.

The petitioner, a P.G. Assistant approaching superannuation, had borrowed ₹5,00,000 from the fifth respondent, a co-operative society, in 2009. An arbitration award dated 30 January 2015 directed repayment with interest. The petitioner’s appeal permitting repayment in 120 instalments was set aside by the High Court in a civil revision petition on 13 March 2024.

Before his scheduled retirement on 30 September 2026, the third respondent required him to settle the society’s dues and produce a No Due Certificate before his terminal benefits could be processed. During the writ proceedings, the petitioner consented to deduction of the amount due to the society from his terminal benefits, with the balance paid to him; the society did not object.

1. Whether the third respondent could require the petitioner to settle the society’s dues and produce a No Due Certificate before processing his terminal benefits

2. Whether the terminal-benefit process could proceed by deducting and remitting the amount due to the society, with any balance released to the petitioner

The petition was brought under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, which empowers the High Court to issue appropriate writs and directions.

The Court’s disposal rested on the petitioner’s written and oral consent to deduction from his terminal benefits, together with the fifth respondent’s lack of objection.

The Court did not decide the underlying disputed liability; it expressly made any deduction and remittance subject to further proceedings the petitioner might pursue.

Rather than adjudicating the validity of the demand for a No Due Certificate or determining the petitioner’s liability, the Court acted on the petitioner’s letter authorising deduction and his confirmation of that position in court.

Given the fifth respondent’s consent to that course, the Court directed the school to submit the terminal-benefit proposal and required the authorities to process it, deduct and remit the amount due to the society, and release any balance to the petitioner.

The direction preserved the petitioner’s ability to challenge the dues in further proceedings.

The amount due to the fifth respondent is to be deducted and remitted, with any balance disbursed to the petitioner; that deduction and remittance remain subject to further proceedings by the petitioner.

No costs were ordered, and the connected miscellaneous petition was closed.