HC attaches bank accounts of JAKFED

Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 10: In a contempt petition, High Court today ordered attachment of bank accounts of JAKFED.
The contempt petition has been filed by Gurmeet Singh, who was serving in JAKFED and retired four years back but without retrial benefits.
After hearing Advocate Raghu Mehta for petitioner, Justice Rajesh Bindal observed, “an employee who had served in an institution throughout his life is not required to wait for payment of his retiral dues and leave it at the whims and fancies of the employer to pay him as per their desire and not immediately after retirement”.
“In fact the retiral dues are required to be paid to an employee, the day he retires from service. It is hard earned money of an employee and not a bounty. Hence, any delay in payment thereof cannot be accepted”, High Court further observed, adding “in the present case it is not that the petitioner had not been paid his retiral dues for days or months rather more than four years have lapsed after his retirement and despite order passed by this court he has not been paid even a single penny”.
With these observations, Justice Rajesh Bindal ordered that accounts of JAKFED shall remain attached to the extent of retiral dues payable to the petitioner. “The banks concerned are restrained from allowing JAKFED to withdraw any amount from these accounts unless the retiral dues of the petitioner are cleared. The amount due to the petitioner shall be calculated by the JAKFED and informed to the bank branches within a period of two weeks from the date of receipt of copy of the order to enable the banks to transfer the same to the account of the petitioner”, High Court further directed.
“In case it is found that the amount in the bank accounts is not sufficient enough to take care of the amount due to the petitioner, the salary of the officer, who is present in court, namely, Rajesh Kumar, shall stand attached. He shall not be paid salary till such time the arrears of retiral dues payable to the petitioner are cleared. However, that will not mean that the officer shall not be entitled to any salary for this period or claim his salary from the JAKFED”, High Court made it clear.
“Suraya Jabeen is stated to be the Managing Director of the JAKFED. What the Managing Director has to do in a Federation which has almost gone bankrupt, cannot be imagined”, Justice Bindal said, adding “in case the needful is not done, this court may have to take steps to attach even the salary of the Managing Director to clear the retiral dues of the petitioner”.