Cuttack: Few days after the Orissa High Court’s order to pay retirement dues and pension benefits to Kashinath Rath, 29 years after his retirement, the court was told that the man had died on September 25 last year. Rath was 88.
The high court during its ruling on June 22 ordered the government to treat January 31, 1992, as Rath’s superannuation date and to pay all his retirement dues, pension benefits with specified interest in a month’s time.
At that time, the court was not aware that Rath, who fought for his retirement benefits for 29 long years, had died before the order was passed.
The deceased’s counsel Siddheswar Mallik said that Rath died in his native Jemadeipur village and is survived by his 82-year-old wife Krushnapriya, who now needs a legal heir certificate to claim Rath’s retirement benefits.
“Since the petitioner has died, his wife being the sole legal heir (as the couple does not have a child) will be entitled to get the payment as directed by the high court,” Mallik was quoted as saying by The Times of India.
Rath was a village level worker at the Binjharpur panchayati raj department in the Jajpur district.
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