HC rules: No recovery from pension without consent; says abrupt deductions ‘undermine economic dignity’

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that recovery of excess payment cannot be carried out from a retired government employee’s pension without his express written consent. Justice Harpreet Singh Brar also asked the Reserve Bank of India to issue instructions to all agency banks that “no recovery of excess amount from the pension of a government employee shall be effected without the pensioner’s knowledge and consent, or without the issuance of a prior notice.”

The assertions and the direction came as the Bench described abrupt deductions a blow to the “economic dignity and emotional stability” of post-retirement life. The ruling came in a case where Rs 6,63,688 was deducted from a retired employee’s personal bank account and the transaction was marked as ‘recovery of excess pension