HC directs payment of withheld gratuity

Four years after his retirement as a Block Development Officer, a man is set to get his gratuity, withheld by authorities, as the Madras High Court came to his aid and directed officials to settle the payment.
Vijayakumar, who retired on June 30, 2009 as a BDO in Coimbatore District, moved the court seeking payment of the gratuity witheld after some objections were raised during audit.
Justice D Hariparanthaman directed the Coimbatore District Collector to immediately disburse the gratuity of Rs 3.51 lakh.
Even though no judicial or departmental proceedings were pending against him, authorities had retained the amount due to him under the gratuity scheme, Vijayakumar said in his petition.

His repeated representations went unheeded and hence the petition, he had submitted.