Woman’s ‘righteousness’ helps husband in securing relief in case before Madras High Court

The “righteousness” of a woman in persuading her husband, when he was a bank employee, to take responsibility for the fraudulent withdrawal of funds from a customer’s account has impressed the Madras High Court so much that it has ordered the grant of a monthly pension to the now-discharged employee. Disposing of a writ petition pending since 2010, Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy wrote: “This matter stands as an exemplary case as to how a spouse can help the other and show the path of aram and bring the other within the fold of the right path, when he or she strays away.” He went on to write: “As a matter of fact, the said exemplary good conduct on the part of the petitioner’s wife, which is borne out from the records, is one of the reasons for this court to consider the issue of granting of pension and not leaving the parties to go for one more round of litigation.” Upon perusing the records, the judge found that the petitioner J. James was appointed as a clerk/shroff under the sports quota at Indian Bank in 1990. Challenging Labour Court order The petitioner had filed the present writ petition challenging the Labour Court’s order. He also found that the bank had only offered to pay gratuity, and not pension, after the Labour Court’s order, but the petitioner had not accepted the gratuity amount.