Patna High Court
Uday Shankar Prasad SinghversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- RITESH KUMAR
Holding
The order directing recovery of Rs.2,65,019 from the petitioner's retirement benefits is without jurisdiction and is quashed, and the petitioner is entitled to the full contractual amount of Rs.3,08,886.
Summary
The petitioner, a retired Junior Engineer of Muzaffarpur Municipal Corporation, filed a writ petition seeking a mandamus directing the municipal authorities to pay the contractual amount of Rs.3,08,886 for a pipe‑installation work he executed in 2016‑17. Although the Assistant Engineer and Executive Engineer had recommended payment after verifying the work, the Municipal Commissioner later deducted the advance of Rs.2,00,000 from the petitioner's retirement gratuity under Memo No.556/2018, alleging unsatisfactory completion. The petitioner contended that the work was completed satisfactorily and that the deduction was illegal, while the respondents argued that required completion certificates and audit compliance were missing. The Court examined the recommendations of the subordinate engineers, found no evidence of any subsequent enquiry, and held that the Municipal Commissioner acted without jurisdiction in ordering the recovery. Consequently, the Court quashed the recovery order and directed payment of the full contractual amount, after applicable tax deductions, within eight weeks. The writ petition was therefore disposed of in favour of the petitioner.
Issues considered
- Whether the Municipal Commissioner had jurisdiction to recover the advance amount from the petitioner's retirement benefits despite prior recommendations for payment.
- Whether the deduction of the advance amount from the gratuity was illegal and ultra vires of the municipal authority.
- Whether the petitioner is entitled to the full contractual amount of Rs.3,08,886 with applicable deductions.
Subjects
- mandamus
- writ petition
- municipal corporation
- contractual payment
- retirement benefits
- advance recovery
- administrative law
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.1452 of 2022
======================================================
Uday Shankar Prasad Singh Son of Ram Dharikshan Singh, resident of
Village and P.O.- Baghakhal, District - Muzaffarpur, presently residing at
New Colony, Balughat, Road no. 3, Muzaffarpur, the retired Junior Engineer,
Muzaffarpur Municipal Corporation, Muzaffarpur. ... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
1. The State of Bihar through the Chief Secretary, Government of Bihar, Patna.
2. The Principal Secretary, Urban Development and Housing Department,
Government of Bihar, Patna.
3. The Municipal Commissioner, Muzaffarpur Municipal Corporation,
Muzaffarpur.
4. The Executive Engineer, Muzaffarpur Municipal Corporation, Muzaffarpur.
5. The Assistant Engineer, Muzaffarpur Municipal Corporation, Muzaffarpur.
... ... Respondent/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Vijay Kumar Singh, Advocate
For the State : Mr. Subhash Pd. Singh, GA-3
: Mr. Indeshwari Prasad, AC to GA-3
For the Res No.3 : Mr. Awadhesh Kumar, Advocate
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE RITESH KUMAR
ORAL JUDGMENT
Date : 16-02-2026
Heard the parties.
2. The present writ petition has been filed for the
following reliefs:-
(I) For issuance of an appropriate writ
in the nature of MANDAMUS
commanding and directing the
Respondent Authorities and
particularly the Respondent no.3 to
pay the contractual amount of
Rs.3,08,886/- for installation of the
Pipe from the office of Animal
Husbandry to the Road of Bibiganj
which was done departmentally for
which the petitioner had already
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submitted the bill and after
deduction of necessary deduction the
bill of Rs.3,08,886/-was sanctioned
and passed by all the Authorities in
the year 2017 but the said amount of
bill was not paid to the petitioner
rather the advance amount of
Rs.2,00,000/- taken by the petitioner
for execution of the said work was
illegally adjusted/deducted from the
retiral dues of the issued petitioner
vide memo no.556 dated 31.03.2018
under the signature of the
Respondent no.3.
(II) For issuance of an appropriate writ
in the nature of MANDAMUS,
commanding and directing the
Respondent Authorities for payment
of the aforesaid amount of the
contractual work to the petitioner
with interest as on the ground that
the Respondents had arbitrarily
deducted the amount of advance of
the said contractual work from the
retiral dues of the petitioner as also
the delay caused in payment of the
said amount to the petitioner is
directly attributable to the
Respondents alone.
3. The brief facts giving rise to the present writ
petition is that the petitioner was appointed as a Junior Engineer
in the Muzaffarpur Municipal Corporation vide office order no.
Patna High Court CWJC No.1452 of 2022 dt.16-02-2026
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519 dated 12.04.1984 and pursuant thereto, he gave his joining
before the competent authority. In the year, 2016, a proposal
was made by the Corporation for installation of the Pipe Line
from the office of Animal Husbandry to Bibiganj Road and a
decision was taken for doing the said work at the departmental
level, for an estimated cost of Rs. 9,99,800/-. The petitioner was
appointed as the Executing Agent and as per the assertion made
by the petitioner, he completed the work as per specification and
the said work was entered in the measurement book, which was
duly verified by the Assistant Engineer and the Executive
Engineer of the Muzaffarpur Municipal Corporation.
4. It is further case of the petitioner that for
completion of the said work, an advance to the tune of Rs.
2,00,000/- was given to the petitioner on 10.08.2016 and after
completion of the work, the petitioner prepared a bill of Rs.
3,39,436/-, from which necessary deduction towards Income
Tax to the tune of Rs. 30,550/- was made and after deduction, an
amount of Rs. 3,08,886/- was to be paid to the petitioner. The
Assistant Engineer, Muzaffarpur Municipal Corporation
recommended for payment of the said amount on 08.01.2017
after adjusting the advance amount of Rs. 2,00,000/-, since the
work was already completed and the said recommendation was
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duly forwarded and recommended by the Executive Engineer of
the Corporation on 20.04.2017, but the remaining amount to the
tune of Rs. 1,08,550/- was not paid to the petitioner. In the
meantime, after the attaining age of superannuation, the
petitioner superannuated on 31.01.2017 and vide order
contained in Memo No. 556 dated 31.03.2018, the gratuity
amount of the petitioner to the tune of Rs. 8,98,398/- was
sanctioned. However, a direction was issued by the Municipal
Commissioner, Muzaffarpur Municipal Corporation,
Muzaffarpur to deduct the advance amount of Rs. 2,29,300/-
and Rs.35,719/- i.e. total amount to the tune of Rs. 2,65,019/-
from the retirement benefit of the petitioner and accordingly, all
the payments were made to the petitioner after recovery of the
above-mentioned amount to the Rs. 2,65,019/- from the
retirement benefits of the petitioner.
5. It is submitted by the learned counsel for the
petitioner that the petitioner filed several representations before
the authorities concerned for payment of the total bill amount to
the tune of Rs. 3,08,886/-, but no action was taken on the said
representations.
6. A supplementary affidavit has been filed by the
learned counsel for the petitioner, wherein the work order issued
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in favour of the petitioner has been brought on record.
7. A counter affidavit has been filed on behalf of
the respondent nos. 3 to 5 wherein it has been stated that
although the petitioner claims to have completed the said work
and submitted final bill to the tune of Rs. 3,08,886/-, but the
final settlement and payment of the bill could not be
executed/done due to the absence of complete documentation,
including authenticated completion certificate, final bill, audit
compliance etc.
8. It has further been submitted by the learned
counsel for the State that the deduction to the tune of Rs.
2,00,000/- from the retirement dues of the petitioner was done
due to non-submission of appropriate utilisation and completion
certificate, which is mandatory under the Bihar Finance Rules
and the Municipal Audit Manual. The petitioner submitted the
measurement book wherein details were mentioned, but upon
verification of the work, the Municipal Commissioner found the
work to be unsatisfactory and a noting was made to the effect
that “The work is not found satisfactory. No further payment
shall be made.” and accordingly recovery was made from the
retirement benefits of the petitioner. The application filed by the
petitioner was rejected on 24.03.2021, with a note that that the
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“work is not satisfactory”. Further, in the measurement book, no
remark has been made with regard to the fact that whether the
bill is a first bill, partial bill or for the complete scheme and nor
is there any written confirmation from the petitioner about the
completion status of the work and even from perusal of the
measurement book, it is not clear that whether the petitioner has
completed the work satisfactorily or not, in these background,
the order for recovery was made by the Municipal
Commissioner by the impugned order dated 31.03.2018 and the
same has not been assailed in the present writ petition.
9. A reply to the counter affidavit has been filed on
behalf of the petitioner, wherein it has been categorically stated
that the Assistant Engineer and the Executive Engineer have
recommended in the measurement book that the work has been
completed by the petitioner and recommended for making
payment to the petitioner. During course of hearing in the
present case on 09.02.2026, the Muzaffarpur Municipal
Corporation was directed to verify that when the Assistant
Engineer and the Executive Engineer had recommended for
payment of the amount to the petitioner, since the work was
already completed, then under what circumstances, the
payments have not been made and if the said recommendations
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were found incorrect, then what action has been taken against
the Assistant Engineer and the Executive Engineer.
10. Today, when the matter has been taken upon,
the learned counsel for the Muzaffarpur Municipal Corporation
fairly submits that no action has been taken against the Assistant
Engineer and the Executive Engineer, meaning thereby that the
Corporation does not found fault with their recommendation.
11. Having heard the parties and after going
through the records, this Court finds that the concerned
authorities recommended for making payment to the petitioner,
which is clear from Annexure-P/2 to the writ petition and they
found the work to have been completed by the petitioner to be
satisfactory. No further enquiry was made by the Municipal
Commissioner, Muzaffarpur Municipal Corporation, since
nothing has been brought on record to show that any further
enquiry was conducted after the recommendation of the
Assistant Engineer and the Executive Engineer for making
payment, then the order passed by the Municipal Commissioner,
Muzaffarpur Municipal Corporation contained in Memo No.
556 dated 31.03.2018 is without any jurisdiction, since in the
impugned order, whereby a direction was issued to recover Rs.
2,65,019/- from the retirement benefits of the petitioner, no
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consideration has been made by the Municipal Commissioner,
Muzaffarpur Municipal Corporation.
12. Accordingly, the direction for recovery of Rs.
2,65,019/- contained in Memo No. 556 dated 31.03.2018 is not
sustainable and is quashed. The petitioner is entitled for
payment of an amount to the tune of Rs. 2,00,000/-, which is
included in the recovered amount to the tune of Rs. 2,65,019/-
and is further entitled for payment of the remaining due amount
to the tune of Rs. 1,08,886/-. The petitioner will be paid the total
amount to the tune of Rs. 3,08,886/-, after taking into account
the income tax deductions, if any, to be made from the
petitioner.
13. The entire exercise shall be completed within a
period of eight weeks from the date of receipt/production of a
copy of this order before the Municipal Commissioner,
Muzaffarpur Municipal Corporation.
14. With the aforesaid observations and directions,
the present writ petition is disposed of.
(Ritesh Kumar, J)
AjayMishra/-
AFR/NAFR NAFR
CAV DATE NA
Uploading Date 25.02.2026.
Transmission Date NA
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