Hari Ram v. Delhi Building and Other Construction Workers Board

1. The present Petition has been filed on behalf of the Petitioner interalia seeking the following prayers: “a) Issue a Writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction to the Respondent to sanction the pension of the Petitioner and released the dues to the Petitioner in a time bound manner; b) Direct the Respondent to release the arrears of pension that are due to the Petitioner with 12% interest per annum from 01.02.2022;”

2. Issue Notice. Learned Counsel for the Respondent accepts Notice. With the consent of the parties, the matter is taken up for hearing and disposal today itself.

3. The grievance of the Petitioner is that the Petitioner was building worker registered under the Building and Other Construction Workers Act, 1996 with effect from 30.06.2011. It is contended that the Petitioner superannuated in the year 2022 and thus become eligible to receive pension and the Petitioner’s application for pension remains unprocessed due to technical issues.

4. Learned Counsel for the Petitioner submits that although since 2022, several representations to officials of the Respondent were made, however, no action has been taken.

5. Learned Counsel for the Respondent submits that the application for release of pension was filed by the Petitioner only yesterday and it has now been taken up for processing and will be processed within a period of 30 days.

6. Learned Counsel for the Petitioner refutes this contention and submits that the pension application was submitted by email on 11.04.2022 to the Secretary of the Respondent/Board on the following email ids; "DBOCWW BORAD (HQ)" <bocwhq.delhi@gov.in>, Subhash Bhatnagar <subhash.bhatnagar@gmail.com>. 6.[1] Learned Counsel for the Petitioner further submits that in terms of Rules 272 and 273 of the Delhi Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 2002 [hereinafter referred to as “DBOCW Rules”], the procedure for submission of a pension application sets out that it is required to be submitted in Form XXXV to the Secretary of the Board or the officer authorised. He submits that there is no bar on submission of a pension application online.

7. Learned Counsel for the Respondent contends that usually a hard copy of the applications are submitted in terms of DBOCW Rules.

8. Learned Counsel for the parties submit that there is no other applicable rule for submission of a pension application.

9. Rules 272 and 273 of the DBOCW Rules are extracted below:

sixty years of age.

273. Procedure for payment of pension. - (1) An application for pension shall be submitted in Form No. XXXV to the Secretary of the Board or the officer authorised by him for the purpose. (2) If in the opinion of the Secretary of the Board or the officer authorised by him the applicant is eligible for pension, he shall sanction pension and send the pension sanctioning order to the applicant: Provided that no application shall be rejected unless the applicant has been given an opportunity of being heard. (3) If it is found that the applicant is not eligible for pension, the application shall be rejected, and the applicant informed accordingly. (4) The applicant may file an appeal before the Board against the decision taken under sub-rule (3) within sixty days from the date of the receipt of the order: Provided that the Board may for sufficient reason in writing condone the delay upto one year in filing the appeal. (5) The amount of pension shall be one hundred and fifty rupees per mensem. An increase of ten rupees shall be given for every completed year of service beyond five years. The Board may with the previous approval of the Government revise the pension. (6) The pension sanctioning authority shall maintain a register in Form No. XXXVI...” 9.[1] Rule 272 of the DBOCW Rules sets out the eligibility for pension and states that a person shall be eligible for pension once he attains the age of 60 years. Rule 273 of the DBOCW Rules sets out the procedure for payment of pension. Sub-Rule (1) states that the application for pension shall be submitted in Form No. XXXV to the Secretary of the Board. Sub-Rule (2) states that the sanction of the pension to a person being eligible, provided that the application will not be rejected unless the applicant has been given an opportunity of being heard. Sub-Rules (3) and (4) provide for rejection of an application if an applicant is not found to be eligible and the process for filing an Appeal against that decision under sub-Rule (3).

10. Quite clearly, the DBOCW Rules does not impose any bar on the filing of an application online. The issue is however moot in the present case, as it is admitted fact that a hard copy of the application has also been filed thereafter.

11. The Respondent is bound down by the statement made by its Counsel in paragraph 5 above.

12. In view of the aforegoing, the Petition is disposed of.