CUTTACK: A retired judge of the Orissa High Court, who was transferred to the Calcutta High Court before superannuation, is entitled to post-retirement allowances from the Odisha government, the Orissa High Court has ruled.
The benefits, as per the court, include expenses for domestic help, driver, secretarial assistance, security and telephone facilities.
A division bench of Justice SK Panigrahi and Justice MS Raman, in a November 2 judgement on a petition filed by Justice (retired) Chitta Ranjan Dash, set aside the Odisha government’s decision restricting his post-retirement benefits to medical facilities alone. The bench directed the authorities to extend all admissible benefits within eight weeks of receiving a copy of the judgement.
Justice Dash was elevated to the Orissa HC on October 7, 2009, and transferred to the Calcutta High Court in June 2022. He retired on May 20, 2024. Before retirement, he had expressed his desire to avail post-retirement benefits from his parent HC in Odisha.
The state government, through a Home department order issued on July 31, 2025, permitted him to avail medical facilities but did not sanction other allowances. Challenging the exclusion, he sought parity with other retired judges of the Orissa HC.
The bench relied on a Supreme Court clarification dated April 15, 2025, which addressed the entitlement of judges appointed in one HC but retiring from another following transfer.
The apex court had clarified: “When we say the concerned State Government, it will be the State Government where the seat of the High Court is situated in which the retired Judge was firstly appointed or the State Government where the seat of the High Court is situated from which the learned Judge has retired.”
Holding that Justice Dash fell within this category, the bench said his claim could not be rejected merely because he retired from the Calcutta High Court. His entitlement, however, would be subject to verification that he was not receiving similar facilities from any other High Court.
Under Odisha’s April 24, 2025 notification, retired judges are entitled to `45,000 monthly towards domestic help and driver expenses and `15,000 towards telephone, internet, secretarial and security services, with an annual 5% increase.
Emphasising the dignity of retired judges, the bench observed: “The facilities extended to retired Judges are not favours or concessions.”
It added that retired judges should not have to repeatedly approach government departments or overcome procedural hurdles to obtain recognised benefits. The state was directed to determine and release admissible arrears within eight weeks.