PANAJI
The Goa Human Rights Commission (GHRC) has advised the Town & Country Planning department not to proceed with the recovery notice issued to a retired Group C employee who had received an excess amount of around Rs 2.58 lakh while in service.
Hearing a plea by Suryakant Kavlekar, the Commission cited a Supreme Court order that stated recovery from Group C and Group D employees is legally impermissible. The retired employee had received an excess amount of around Rs 2.58 lakh, and the notice of recovery was issued post-retirement.
The Commission recommended that the TCP and the Accounts Department “cannot recover the so-called excess amount paid to him (complainant) many years back of Rs 2,58,789.”
“In the facts of the present case based on the judgments of the Supreme Court, which has been accepted by the State of Goa, the recovery from the employees belonging to Group C and D is impermissible. So also, the recovery is impermissible from the retired employees or from the employees who are due to retire within one year of the order of recovery,” Acting Chairperson Desmond D’Costa and Member Pramod Kamat observed in their four-page Inquiry Report.
The Complainant had retired as a Group C employee on April 30, 2021, and only thereafter, he was issued a notice of recovery from his gratuity amount.
The GHRC has also kept the matter open for the two departments to submit their comments, including action taken or proposed to be taken, within 60 days, on or before February 19 next year.
