Overview
- Eastern Coalfields Limited won a High Court order that allows it to deduct rent and penal rent from a retiree’s gratuity for staying on in a company quarter.
- The case involved a gratuity of Rs 18,99,752 withheld after the employee retired on June 30, 2022 and continued to occupy Quarter NHA-A/10 in Sarkar Para.
- The Court returned the deposited gratuity to ECL and said deductions can continue until the quarter is vacated, after which any balance must be paid within 15 days.
- Justice Shampa Dutt relied on Supreme Court rulings in SAIL v. Raghbendra Singh and ONGC v. V.U. Warrier and on a 2023 government memo that counts rent, penal rent, and utilities as government dues.
- The judgment seeks to deter quarter hoarding by retirees and clarifies that employers may adjust such dues against gratuity, which is a lump sum owed after long service.