Reported by Mrinal Kanti Banik
Agartala: The Tripura High Court has ordered that the salaries of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and other officers of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), excluding Group C and Group D employees, be withheld until sanctioned retiral benefits owed to former employees are disbursed.
A single bench of Justice T Amarnath Goud issued the direction on September 9 while hearing a writ petition filed by former TTAADC employee Rasan Debbarma Reang against the council and five other respondents.
The petitioner’s grievance was that the council had sanctioned retiral benefits and issued the necessary memoranda during 2025-26, but the payments remained pending even after the amounts had been calculated.
During the hearing on September 8, counsel for the TTAADC argued that the state’s Finance Secretary would need to be made a party to the proceedings, claiming that the council required assistance from the state government to release the funds.
The court sought the assistance of the Advocate General on the issue. After obtaining instructions, the Advocate General told the court that the TTAADC had its own funds and did not require approval from the Finance Secretary to release amounts that had already been sanctioned. The Advocate General further submitted that the Finance Secretary had no role in the matter and was therefore not a necessary party.
The court then asked the respondents to determine how much time would be required to release the sanctioned payments and whether any legal obstacle prevented their disbursement. However, counsel representing the TTAADC maintained that the assistance of the Finance Secretary was necessary.
The order also recorded details of sanctioned retiral benefits in three connected writ petitions. In WP(C) No. 658 of 2026, an amount of Rs 16,33,750 was sanctioned in favour of Rasan Debbarma Reang, who retired on January 31, 2025. The sanction was issued on July 15, 2025.
The amounts sanctioned in the other two petitions ranged between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 31.68 lakh, as reflected in the tabulated statement included in the court order.
The High Court directed the TTAADC CEO, Secretary (Finance) and District Treasury Officers to examine the matter and take necessary action, wherever required, for release of the sanctioned benefits.
The matter has been scheduled for further hearing on October 5.
The order was uploaded on Tuesday, a day after the hearing, and subsequently became the subject of political debate in Tripura.
CPIM state secretary and Leader of Opposition Jitendra Choudhury described the court’s direction as an unusual instance of judicial intervention over the payment of retiral benefits.