In a key judgement, the Jharkhand High Court recently withheld the salary of a district officer until full pension and retirement benefits are paid to an employee who has been awaiting payment for over 13 years due to a missing service book. The high court was hearing the plea of Mr Singh, a clerk at the district transport office, who retired on March 31, 2011.
According to Mr Singh, after his retirement he did not receive his pension and retirement benefits, as the service book was not available. So, he first filed a case in the district court. The court ruled in favour of Mr Singh, stating that the responsibility for maintaining and keeping the service book lies with the district transport office.

Therefore, the absence of a service book cannot be the ground for denying pension and retirement benefits to a retired person, and that too for 13 years. And the court had ordered that the pension and retirement benefits be paid to Mr Singh immediately. Advocate Devesh Ajmani represented Singh in court.

However, the transport department failed to fully comply with the order, with a significant portion of Mr Singh’s dues still outstanding.

Taking cognisance of this, the Jharkhand High Court observed that on February 21, 2025, a contempt application was filed; thereafter, several adjournments were granted, but admittedly, the entire order has not been complied with. It is admitted that a substantial amount remains to be paid to Mr Singh.

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The Jharkhand High Court also observed that on January 15, 2026, an Interlocutory Application was filed, requesting an extension of four weeks for compliance with the said order. Despite the court granting time in accordance with the said I.A., the transport office has clearly failed to comply with the entire order, and now they are once again asking for more time to pay Mr Singh his remaining pension and retirement dues.
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Jharkhand High Court orderThe Jharkhand High Court (Case (Civil) No. 403 of 2025) granted six weeks’ time to the transport office while simultaneously ordering that the salary of the District Transport Officer, Palamau, be withheld till the time the full payment (pension and retirement benefits) is made.

The Jharkhand High Court said: “It is made clear that if the order is not complied with before the next date, the salary of the Deputy Commissioner-cum- the Secretary, Regional Transport Authority, North Chotanagpur Region, Hazaribagh will also be withheld.”