{"id":395992,"date":"2026-09-12T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T05:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?p=395992"},"modified":"2026-09-14T17:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T11:54:09","slug":"calcutta-hc-retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/09\/12\/calcutta-hc-retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily\/","title":{"rendered":"Retiral Benefits cannot be withheld arbitrarily: Calcutta HC grants interest on delayed gratuity"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Calcutta High Court:<\/span> The Division Bench of Shampa Sarkar and Arjun Ray Mukherjee, JJ. set aside the impugned order and held that the petitioner, who retired from Birbhum District Central Cooperative Bank on 31 January 2013, was entitled to interest on delayed gratuity. The Court held that a cooperative bank cannot withhold gratuity indefinitely on the basis of administrative autonomy, or pending criminal proceedings when no applicable service rule authorises such withholding. The Court considering Section 7(3-A)<\/a>, Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972<\/a> which mandated interest on delayed payment, awarded ₹50,000 as costs and directed statutory interest, or 8 per cent per annum where applicable.<\/p>\n

The Court held that, even where no statutory provision applies, one is entitled to receive interest for delayed payment. It is now well settled that a person deprived of the use of money to which he is legitimately entitled has a right to be compensated for the deprivation by interest or damages or compensation. If the payment is made by the employer pursuant to a direction of a Court at a belated stage, the employer, by making such payment, does not do any favour to the employee. It is neither an act of grace nor a compassion on the part of the employer, but it is an employee’s right under the law.<\/p>\n

Background<\/p>\n

The appellant had been an employee of Birbhum District Central Cooperative Bank Limited. The respondent-Bank was registered under the West Bengal Cooperative Societies Act, 1940 (Act, 1940) and was governed by the West Bengal Cooperative Societies Act, 2006<\/a> (Act, 2006). The appellant retired from service on 31 January 2013 on attaining the age of superannuation. Despite his retirement, his retiral benefits were not released for a considerable period. More than a decade after his retirement, the respondent-Bank issued an order dated 26 October 2023 alleging that the appellant had been involved in siphoning public money. The respondent-Bank decided to keep his retiral benefits in a suspense account until the financial loss, if any, was determined. It also constituted a committee to examine the allegations on the basis of official records.<\/p>\n

Aggrieved by the withholding of his retirement benefits, the appellant approached this Court and sought quashing of the respondent-Bank ‘s order dated 26 October 2023. The learned Single Judge considered whether the retiral dues could be withheld because of the criminal proceedings pending against the appellant. By order dated 24 January 2025, the Single Judge declined to direct release of the gratuity until conclusion of the criminal case. However, the Court directed the respondent-Bank to release the appellant’s provident fund and leave encashment dues within one month, subject to completion of the necessary formalities. The appellant challenged the refusal to direct payment of gratuity and preferred the present intra-court appeal. During the pendency of the appeal, pursuant to an order dated 7 April 2026, the respondent-Bank paid the gratuity amount to the appellant. Consequently, the principal dispute regarding release of gratuity no longer survived. The Court therefore confined its consideration primarily to the appellant’s entitlement to interest on the delayed gratuity payment.<\/p>\n

The appellant relied upon Clause 19 of Appendix 5 to Rule 106, West Bengal Cooperative Societies Rules, 2011 (Rules, 2011), which provides that employees of a cooperative society shall retire on attaining the age of 60 years and are eligible for gratuity in accordance with the Act, 1972. It also provides for leave encashment subject to the prescribed limit. The appellant contended that, since his retirement took place on 31 January 2013, Rule 106 and the provisions contained in its Appendix were applicable to him. Consequently, his gratuity was governed by the Act, 1972 and the respondent-Bank was liable to pay statutory interest for the delayed payment.<\/p>\n

The respondent-Bank relied upon an amendment to the Rule whereby cooperative credit structure entities were excluded from its scope with effect from 1 February 2013. It claimed that as a cooperative credit structure entity, its employees were outside the purview of Rule 106 and therefore could not claim benefits under Appendix 5. The respondent-Bank also relied upon the judgment in Birbhum District Coop. Bank Ltd.<\/span> v. Paresh Kumar Mukherjee<\/span>, 2025 SCC OnLine Cal 816<\/a>, where the Court had held that cooperative credit structure entities were excluded from Rule 106 and consequently, from Clause 19 of Appendix 5. The respondent-Bank contended that since it was a Co-operative Credit Structure Entity, that enjoyed autonomy in all financial and internal administrative matters including personnel policy, staffing, recruitment, posting and compensation for the audit, the bank would not be guided by the provisions of the Act, 1972. Accordingly, it was presumed that Rule 106 of the Rules, 2011 applied to the appellant, but by virtue of the overriding effect of Section 134-A<\/a> of the Act, 2006<\/a>, the respondent-Bank was not liable to pay interest.<\/p>\n

Decision and Analysis<\/p>\n

The Court noted that the amendment excluding cooperative credit structure entities from Rule 106 came into effect only from 1 February 2013. The appellant had retired one day earlier, on 31 January 2013. Therefore, on the date of his retirement, Rule 106 squarely applied to him. The subsequent amendment could not retrospectively deprive him of benefits that had already accrued under the applicable rules. The Court consequently held that the appellant was entitled to the retiral benefits contemplated by Clause 19 of Appendix 5.<\/p>\n

The Court then examined the provisions of Section 7(3)<\/a> of the Act, 1972<\/a> which requires an employer to arrange payment of gratuity within thirty days from the date on which it becomes payable and Section 7(3-A)<\/a> of the Act, 1972<\/a> provides that where gratuity is not paid within that period, the employer is liable to pay simple interest from the date on which the gratuity became payable until the date on which it is actually paid. The statutory exception applies where the delay is due to the fault of the employee and the employer has obtained written permission from the controlling authority for delayed payment on that ground. The Court found that the delay was attributable to the respondent-Bank. There was no basis shown for treating the appellant as responsible for the delay, nor was there any justification under the statutory scheme for denying interest. The Court therefore held that the appellant was entitled to interest on the delayed gratuity under Section 7(3-A)<\/a> of the Act, 1972<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Court also relied upon Section 14<\/a> of the Act, 1972<\/a>, which gives the Act an overriding effect over inconsistent provisions contained in other enactments, instruments or contracts. The Court referring to the case Alok Shanker Pandey<\/span> v. Union of India<\/span>, (2007) 3 SCC 545<\/a> held that, even where no statutory provision applies, one is entitled to receive interest for delayed payment. It is now well settled that a person deprived of the use of money to which he is legitimately entitled has a right to be compensated for the deprivation by interest or damages or compensation. The law laid down in Birbhum District Coop. Bank case<\/span> does not apply to the present case. It is well settled that a little difference in facts or additional facts may make a lot of difference in the precedential value of a decision. In this connection, reference may be made to the decisions reported in Ispat Industries Ltd.<\/span> v. Commr. of Customs<\/span>, (2006) 12 SCC 583<\/a> and Dinubhai Boghabhai Solanki<\/span> v. State of Gujarat<\/span>, (2014) 4 SCC 626<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Court emphasised that the bank’s administrative autonomy could not override the statutory obligation imposed by the Act, 1972. The respondent-Bank had relied upon provisions of Act, 2006, particularly Sections 134-A which gives overriding effect to Chapter XIII-A of the State Act, while Section 134-C recognises autonomy of cooperative credit structure entities. The Court rejected the respondent-Bank’s submission that such autonomy permitted it to deny interest on delayed gratuity. Such autonomy cannot be interpreted as a licence to disregard statutory rights of employees. The Court held that the above provisions had nothing to do with the facts of the present case. The word “autonomy” mentioned in Section 134-C<\/a> of the Act, 2006<\/a> does not empower the respondent-Bank to deprive a citizen of his legitimate right nor can it be used as a device by the respondent-Bank to punish a retired employee in a manner which is not permissible in law. The appellant was allowed to retire in 2013 and only in 2023 the allegations were levelled against him.<\/p>\n

The Court further held that an employee, who is entitled to receive his service benefits within the time frame prescribed by law (in normal cases immediately after his retirement), if deprived of such benefits by the employer on some arbitrary grounds, and thereafter if the payment is made by the employer pursuant to a direction of a Court at a belated stage, the employer, by making such payment, does not do any favour to the employee. It is neither an act of grace nor a compassion on the part of the employer, but it is an employee’s right under the law. The act of withholding the retiral dues by the employer for more than 13 years without any valid justification, is highly reprehensible. In the Court’s view, withholding legitimate service benefits, particularly retiral benefits, without any valid reasons is an act contrary to the service rules. It not only causes immense hardship to the employee at the fag end of his life, but also puts his entire family in a tremendous financial crisis. An employer cannot violate the service conditions of an employee and resort to such means as an act of reprisal, for whatever reasons, thereby circumventing the law.<\/p>\n

Considering the abovementioned reasons, the Court had no hesitation in holding that, by withholding the gratuity and then the interest portion payable to the appellant on delayed payment of gratuity, the respondent-Bank had enriched itself unlawfully. The entire action of the respondent-Bank suffers from the vice of malice and the same is wholly illegal. The Court set aside the impugned order on respondent-Bank’s failure to satisfy that the service rules permitted withholding of gratuity payable to an employee during pendency of any criminal proceeding against the said employee, even after retirement.<\/p>\n

The Court allowed the appeal and directed the respondent-Bank to pay interest at the rate notified by the Central Government for repayment of long-term deposits. The Court further directed that, if no such notification had been issued, the appellant would receive interest at the rate of 8 per cent per annum from the date on which the gratuity became payable until the date of its actual disbursement. In addition, the respondent-Bank was directed to pay costs of ₹50,000 to the appellant. The interest and costs were directed to be paid within three weeks from the date of the order.<\/p>\n

[Ashadul Haque<\/span> v. State of W.B.<\/span>, 2026 SCC OnLine Cal 12419<\/a>, decided on 18-8-2026<\/span>]<\/p>\n

*Judgment authored by: Justice Arjun Ray Mukherjee<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Advocates who appeared in this case:<\/p>\n

For the Appellant:<\/span> Dhiman Kumar Sengupta, Farhin Mustaque, Advocates<\/p>\n

For the State:<\/span> .D.N. Ray, Ld. G.P., .Susmita Saha Dutta, A.G.P., Tanusree Ghosh, Advocates<\/p>\n

For the Respondent:<\/span> Saikat Banerjee, Senior Advocate, Arnab Ray, Shrabanti Chatterjee, Shirsho Banerjee, Advocates <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Court held that a cooperative bank cannot withhold gratuity indefinitely on the basis of administrative autonomy, or pending criminal proceedings when no applicable service rule authorises such withholding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67544,"featured_media":395993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[114541,43910,114543,114533,114540,2513,31928,114545,114542,114544,114532,32385,6031,114537,114538,114535,114546,114536,114539,114534],"class_list":["post-395992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-casebriefs","category-highcourts","tag-2025-scc-online-cal-816","tag-administrative-matters","tag-arbitrary-grounds","tag-birbhum-district-central-cooperative-bank-limited","tag-birbhum-district-co-operative-bank-ltd-v-paresh-kumar-mukherjee","tag-Calcutta_High_Court","tag-criminal-case","tag-delayed-gratuity-payment","tag-enriched-itself-unlawfully","tag-highly-reprehensible","tag-justice-arjun-ray-mukherjee","tag-leave-encashment","tag-retiral-benefits","tag-right-to-be-compensated","tag-section-134a-and-134c","tag-siphoning-public-money","tag-statutory-rights-of-employees","tag-west-bengal-cooperative-societies-act-1940","tag-west-bengal-cooperative-societies-act-2006","tag-withholding-the-retiral-dues"],"yoast_head":"\nRetiral Benefits Cannot Be Withheld Arbitrarily: Calcutta HC | SCC Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Calcutta HC held a cooperative bank cannot withhold retiral benefits arbitrarily over pending criminal proceedings, awarding 8% interest and Rs 50,000 costs for the delay.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/09\/12\/calcutta-hc-retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Retiral Benefits cannot be withheld arbitrarily: Calcutta HC grants interest on delayed gratuity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Calcutta HC held a cooperative bank cannot withhold retiral benefits arbitrarily over pending criminal proceedings, awarding 8% interest and Rs 50,000 costs for the delay.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/09\/12\/calcutta-hc-retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SCC Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/scc.online\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-12T05:30:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-14T11:54:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"886\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"590\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chandra Sharma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Retiral Benefits cannot be withheld arbitrarily: Calcutta HC grants interest on delayed gratuity\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Chandra Sharma\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/12\\\/calcutta-hc-retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/12\\\/calcutta-hc-retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Chandra Sharma\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fd34de74f274cfdc852af1e7f13f510d\"},\"headline\":\"Retiral Benefits cannot be withheld arbitrarily: Calcutta HC grants interest on delayed gratuity\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-12T05:30:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-14T11:54:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/12\\\/calcutta-hc-retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1798,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/12\\\/calcutta-hc-retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"2025 SCC OnLine Cal 816\",\"Administrative Matters\",\"arbitrary grounds\",\"Birbhum District Central Cooperative Bank Limited\",\"Birbhum District Co-operative Bank Ltd. v. Paresh Kumar Mukherjee\",\"Calcutta High Court\",\"Criminal Case\",\"delayed gratuity payment\",\"enriched itself unlawfully\",\"highly reprehensible\",\"Justice Arjun Ray Mukherjee\",\"Leave Encashment\",\"Retiral benefits\",\"right to be compensated\",\"Section 134A and 134C\",\"siphoning public money\",\"statutory rights of employees\",\"West Bengal Cooperative Societies Act 1940\",\"West Bengal Cooperative Societies Act 2006\",\"withholding the retiral dues\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Case Briefs\",\"High Courts\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/12\\\/calcutta-hc-retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/12\\\/calcutta-hc-retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/12\\\/calcutta-hc-retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily\\\/\",\"name\":\"Retiral Benefits Cannot Be Withheld Arbitrarily: Calcutta HC | SCC Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/12\\\/calcutta-hc-retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/12\\\/calcutta-hc-retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-12T05:30:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-14T11:54:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fd34de74f274cfdc852af1e7f13f510d\"},\"description\":\"Calcutta HC held a cooperative bank cannot withhold retiral benefits arbitrarily over pending criminal proceedings, awarding 8% interest and Rs 50,000 costs for the delay.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/12\\\/calcutta-hc-retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/12\\\/calcutta-hc-retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/12\\\/calcutta-hc-retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily.webp\",\"width\":886,\"height\":590,\"caption\":\"retiral benefits cannot be withheld arbitrarily\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/12\\\/calcutta-hc-retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Retiral Benefits cannot be withheld arbitrarily: Calcutta HC grants interest on delayed gratuity\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"SCC Times\",\"description\":\"Bringing you the Best Analytical Legal News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fd34de74f274cfdc852af1e7f13f510d\",\"name\":\"Chandra Sharma\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/36ba7149e274113324ac8d01f3e104f48d3c4b93ddf418dc3ae8d94a3e855c6a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/36ba7149e274113324ac8d01f3e104f48d3c4b93ddf418dc3ae8d94a3e855c6a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/36ba7149e274113324ac8d01f3e104f48d3c4b93ddf418dc3ae8d94a3e855c6a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Chandra Sharma\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.scconline.com\\\/blog\\\/post\\\/author\\\/chandra-sharma\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Retiral Benefits Cannot Be Withheld Arbitrarily: Calcutta HC | SCC Times","description":"Calcutta HC held a cooperative bank cannot withhold retiral benefits arbitrarily over pending criminal proceedings, awarding 8% interest and Rs 50,000 costs for the delay.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/09\/12\/calcutta-hc-retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Retiral Benefits cannot be withheld arbitrarily: Calcutta HC grants interest on delayed gratuity","og_description":"Calcutta HC held a cooperative bank cannot withhold retiral benefits arbitrarily over pending criminal proceedings, awarding 8% interest and Rs 50,000 costs for the delay.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/09\/12\/calcutta-hc-retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily\/","og_site_name":"SCC Times","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/scc.online\/","article_published_time":"2026-09-12T05:30:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-09-14T11:54:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":886,"height":590,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Chandra Sharma","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Retiral Benefits cannot be withheld arbitrarily: Calcutta HC grants interest on delayed gratuity","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Chandra Sharma","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/09\/12\/calcutta-hc-retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/09\/12\/calcutta-hc-retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily\/"},"author":{"name":"Chandra Sharma","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/fd34de74f274cfdc852af1e7f13f510d"},"headline":"Retiral Benefits cannot be withheld arbitrarily: Calcutta HC grants interest on delayed gratuity","datePublished":"2026-09-12T05:30:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-14T11:54:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/09\/12\/calcutta-hc-retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily\/"},"wordCount":1798,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/09\/12\/calcutta-hc-retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily.webp","keywords":["2025 SCC OnLine Cal 816","Administrative Matters","arbitrary grounds","Birbhum District Central Cooperative Bank Limited","Birbhum District Co-operative Bank Ltd. v. Paresh Kumar Mukherjee","Calcutta High Court","Criminal Case","delayed gratuity payment","enriched itself unlawfully","highly reprehensible","Justice Arjun Ray Mukherjee","Leave Encashment","Retiral benefits","right to be compensated","Section 134A and 134C","siphoning public money","statutory rights of employees","West Bengal Cooperative Societies Act 1940","West Bengal Cooperative Societies Act 2006","withholding the retiral dues"],"articleSection":["Case Briefs","High Courts"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/09\/12\/calcutta-hc-retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/09\/12\/calcutta-hc-retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily\/","url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/09\/12\/calcutta-hc-retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily\/","name":"Retiral Benefits Cannot Be Withheld Arbitrarily: Calcutta HC | SCC Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/09\/12\/calcutta-hc-retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/09\/12\/calcutta-hc-retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily.webp","datePublished":"2026-09-12T05:30:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-14T11:54:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/fd34de74f274cfdc852af1e7f13f510d"},"description":"Calcutta HC held a cooperative bank cannot withhold retiral benefits arbitrarily over pending criminal proceedings, awarding 8% interest and Rs 50,000 costs for the delay.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/09\/12\/calcutta-hc-retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/09\/12\/calcutta-hc-retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/09\/12\/calcutta-hc-retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily.webp","width":886,"height":590,"caption":"retiral benefits cannot be withheld arbitrarily"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/09\/12\/calcutta-hc-retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Retiral Benefits cannot be withheld arbitrarily: Calcutta HC grants interest on delayed gratuity"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/","name":"SCC Times","description":"Bringing you the Best Analytical Legal News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/fd34de74f274cfdc852af1e7f13f510d","name":"Chandra Sharma","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/36ba7149e274113324ac8d01f3e104f48d3c4b93ddf418dc3ae8d94a3e855c6a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/36ba7149e274113324ac8d01f3e104f48d3c4b93ddf418dc3ae8d94a3e855c6a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/36ba7149e274113324ac8d01f3e104f48d3c4b93ddf418dc3ae8d94a3e855c6a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Chandra Sharma"},"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/author\/chandra-sharma\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/retiral-benefits-cannot-be-withheld-arbitrarily.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67544"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=395992"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":396163,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395992\/revisions\/396163"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/395993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=395992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=395992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=395992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}