'Temporary Employee With Over 15 Years Of Continuous Service Eligible For Pension': Patna High Court

Observing even if an employee has served in a temporary capacity without confirmation, their service can be considered for pension benefits if it is continuous and exceeds 15 years, the Patna High Court has dismissed an appeal filed by its Registrar General against a single judge's ruling.

The single judge had asked the high court to consider an Ex-Cadre Assistant's period of temporary service for release of pension. 

Referring to the Memo No. Pen 1024/69/11779 F., dated 12.08.1969 issued by the Government under Rule 59 of Bihar Pension Rules, the division bench of Chief Justice K Vinod Chandran and Justice Partha Sarthy said, "“Reading of the above provisions clearly provides that even if a person has worked in a temporary capacity and has not been confirmed, if his service on any post is continuous and is for more than 15 years, then it may be considered as pensionable under Rule 59 of the Bihar Pension Rules, 1950.”

The petitioner Ram Vyas Dubey, who was appointed as a Literate Mazdoor in 1985, was subsequently regularised as an Adhoc Assistant in 1988. He retired from service in 2010, having worked for over 25 years in the court. However, his representation seeking pension was denied on the ground that his regular service period was less than 10 years.

Challenging this decision, Dubey filed a writ application challenging the denial of pension/ The Single Judge in 2014 directed the high court to include Dubey's service from May, 1988 to August, 1994, as well as his service from 18.03.2004, to 31.10.2010, in the calculation of his pension. The court further instructed the authorities to compute and release the pension without unnecessary delay.

However, the Registrar General challenged this order of the Single Judge. It was argued that the writ petitioner was not eligible for pension as he had not completed 10 years of regular service as a permanent employee. The counsel representing the high court further contended that the period from 1988 to 1994, during which the writ petitioner worked as a regular employee, was invalidated when his regularisation was revoked, making him a daily wage employee once again.

It was also submitted that Dubey had served for 18 years, 11 months as a Casual Literate Mazdoor/Daily Wager and only 6 years, 7 months, and 13 days as a permanent employee. According to the Bihar Gazette dated September 23rd, 2009, a minimum of ten years of regular service is required to qualify for a pension, the court was told. The appellant argued that Rules 59 and 63 of the Bihar Pension Rules, 1950 were not applicable to Dubey's case.

Rule 59 of the Bihar Pension Rules, 1950 provides that in certain cases even though the conditions are not fulfilled, the Government may provide that the service rendered by a Government servant shall count for pension.

Rule 58 outlines the conditions that must be met for a government servant to qualify for a pension.

“58. The service of a Government servant does not qualify for pension unless it conforms to the following three conditions :-

First- The service must be under Government.

Second -The employment must be substantive and permanent.

Third -The service must be paid by the Government. These three conditions are fully explained in the following subsections.

Case Title: The Registrar General, Patna High Court vs. Ram Vyas and Others (Letters Patent Appeal No.198 of 2016 In Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.15761 of 2013)

Appearance:

For the Appellant/s: Mr. Sanjeev Kumar, Advocate

For the Respondent no.1: Mr. Sunil Kumar Singh No. III

For the State : Mr. Birju Prasad, GP 13 Mr. Amresh, AC to GP 13

For the A.G., Bihar: Mr. Ram Kinker Choubey, Advocate

Click Here To Read/Download Judgment