The court said the PCCF and PPF Director did not care to comply with its orders passed from time to time. They had also ignored the court's directive to file an affidavit-in-reply.

S K Dwivedi, who retired on August 31, 1998 as deputy director of World Food Programme Board, had filed a writ petition seeking directions to the State Government to fix his final pension and to permit him to commute his pension according to rules.

Dwivedi had contended that withholding of his retirement benefits was wholly arbitrary and unjustified. However, he admitted that the State Government was giving himprovisional pension from September 1998.

The court issued an interim relief notice to the State Government and the PCCF, directing them to process the pension papers and furnish the necessary information to the Director of PPF. The court also directed the State Government and the PCCF to file an affidavit and notify the amount admissible to Dwivedi under various heads upon his retirement. It had also asked the PCCF and the PPF Director to remain present in the court on May 3, 1999 with the gratuity amount and finalise the pension amount.

However, the PCCF and the PPF Director did not comply with the court order and the matter had to be adjourned several times. The court said: ``A poor officer, after serving the State for a long time, though more than one year and seven months have passed, has not been given all retirement benefits. Not only this, he was given provisional pension after considerable period of his retirement.''

The order stated that the PCCF and the PPF Director took the matter verycasually. ``This court...is constrained to take a drastic action and the petitioner (Dwivedi) cannot be allowed to be left at the mercy of the respondents in the matter of retirement benefits,'' the Court said while directing the State Government to stop payment of salary to the two authorities.

The final hearing in the matter is on August 16, 1999.