Retired SKIMS doctor gets CAT relief in Rs 8.89 lakh recovery case

Srinagar: Setting aside the recovery order, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has quashed an order seeking to recover Rs 8.89 lakh from a retired Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) doctor's retirement benefits over alleged excess payment of leave salary.

The case concerns a former Principal and Head of the Department of Ophthalmology at SKIMS Medical College, Bemina, who retired on January 31, 2021. The authorities sought to deduct the amount from his retirement benefits, claiming that he had received more leave salary than he was entitled to. 

According to a Greater Kashmir report, the department’s revised calculation showed that the doctor had been paid leave salary for 300 days, amounting to Rs 22.54 lakh, although he was eligible for payment for only 166 days, worth Rs 13.64 lakh. The difference of Rs 8,89,846 was treated as an excess payment. 

The dispute arose over the period of service considered while calculating his benefits. The authorities maintained that only his regular service from September 25, 1999, should have been counted, alleging that his earlier service had incorrectly been included in the original calculation.

The retired doctor challenged the recovery before the Tribunal, arguing that the amount could not be taken back from his retirement benefits in the absence of fraud or misrepresentation. His plea also cited Supreme Court rulings concerning the recovery of excess payments from retired employees.

The Tribunal found that the authorities had ordered the recovery without issuing a notice to the doctor or initiating formal proceedings. 

“Due process of law” had not been followed while passing the impugned order, the Tribunal held, adding that the absence of any finding of fraud or misrepresentation rendered the order legally unsustainable, Greater Kashmir reported.

Holding that the required legal procedure had not been followed, the Tribunal set aside the recovery order issued on February 21, 2023. The decision quashes the direction to recover Rs 8.89 lakh from the retired doctor.