View of Telangana High Court building, in Hyderabad.
| Photo Credit: Nagara Gopal
The State government’s failure to provide retirement benefits to superannuated employees was not only eroding public trust but also creating dissatisfaction among government employees, said Justice Nagesh Bheemapaka of Telangana High Court.
Disposing of a writ petition filed by a retired employee seeking a direction to the government to release his gratuity and other benefits, he observed that the government failing to provide mandatory benefits to its superannuated employees demonstrated the present fiscal state of affairs. This might discourage people from taking up government jobs in future, the judge said.
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The judge directed the State government to expedite the payment of retirement benefits to the petitioner A. Narender Reddy, preferably within 10 weeks of receiving the copy of the order. The Bench was compelled to make the observations having witnessed filing of several such petitions day in and day out seeking direction to secure release of their retirement benefits, Justice Bheemapaka observed.
He noted that counsels representing retired employees seeking such directions contended that most of the funds were being unilaterally diverted in the name of governance by way of freebies such as free electricity, water, public transport, fair loan waivers and other subsidies. Though this was being done under the name of welfare measures, it was only ending up in mounting fiscal burden on the State’s exchequer.
“It is high time for the entire society in general and people at the helm of affairs in particular to brainstorm on the issue of freebies,” the judge said in his order.
Published – May 10, 2025 12:07 am IST
