Employee's Service In NTPC School, Approved By West Bengal Board , Must Be Considered For Pension: Calcutta HC

A single judge bench of the Calcutta High Court comprising of Saugata Bhattacharyya, J. held that the employee's service at NTPC High School (7th April 1993 to 4th July 2002), though in a recognized unaided institution, must be considered for pensionary benefits as it was approved by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, Government of West Bengal. Background Facts The petitioner worked as an Assistant Teacher in NTPC High School, Malda for the period from 7th April, 1993 to 4th July, 2002. Thereafter petitioner joined Dr. Sudhakrishna Junior High School, Birbhum and subsequently joined as Headmaster in Kedarpur B.N. High School, Birbhum. He retired on 31st January, 2024. While processing the pension case of the petitioner in NTPC High School, the respondent State observed on 29th January, 2024 that NTPC High School was financed by National Thermal Power Corporation Limited and not by the Government of West Bengal, therefore, service of the petitioner in the NTPC school should be treated as unqualified and not to be considered for calculating pensionary benefits. Aggrieved by the same, the petitioner filed the writ petition against the observations made by respondent on 29th January, 2024. The petitioner relied upon the approval memo dated 16th February, 1995 issued by the Secretary, West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, approving the service of the petitioner as an Assistant Teacher along with other teaching and nonteaching staffs of NTPC High School. It was further contended by the petitioner that the approval accorded by the Board needs to be taken into consideration while taking decision on entitlement of the petitioner to receive the retiral benefits. On the other hand it was contended by the respondent that at the point of time when petitioner was working in the NTPC school as Assistant Teacher, it was a recognized unaided institution partly financed by NTPC Limited. It was further contended that since NTPC High School was financed by National Thermal Power Corporation Limited and not by the Government of West Bengal, therefore, service of the petitioner in the NTPC school should not be considered for calculating pensionary benefits. Findings of the Court It was observed by the court that though NTPC High School was not Government aided institution but it was a recognized institution and the service of the petitioner for the period from 7th April, 1993 to 4th July, 2002 was approved by the Secretary of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education Board, which was an appropriate authority. It was further observed by the court that the approval memo dated 16th February, 1995 was accorded by the concerned authority of the Board in favour of the petitioner being an Assistant Teacher of the NTPC High school. The case of Md. Mofiur Rahman v. State of West Bengal & Ors. was relied upon by the court wherein the Division Bench held that service of the employee in NTPC High School should be considered for grant of benefits under Revision of Pay and Allowance Rules, (ROPA) 1998. It was directed by the division bench to the State authorities to grant benefits under ROPA 1998 considering the past service of the employee. It was held by the court that there is no bar in granting benefits under ROPA Rules considering the past service of a teacher who was working in NTPC High School. Therefore the court recognized the service of the petitioner rendered in NTPC High School for the period from 7th April, 1993 to 4th July, 2002 for the purpose of settling pensionary dues of the petitioner. Hence, objections raised by the respondent on 29th January, 2024 were set aside by the court. It was directed by the court to the Sate respondent to settle the retiral dues of the petitioner including pension considering service of the petitioner in NTPC High School for the period from 7th April, 1993 to 4th July, 2002. Further State respondents were directed to settle the pensionary benefits and issue pension payment order within eight weeks and release the retiral benefits in favour of the petitioner by four weeks thereafter. With the aforesaid observations, the writ petition was disposed of. Case No. : W.P.A. 28603 of 2024 Counsel for the Petitioner : Ekramul Bari, Sk. Imtiaj Uddin Counsel for the Respondents : Amitava Mitra, Debangana Dey Nayak, Soumya Majumder, Sr. Adv, Uttam Kumar Mandal, Maitree RoyClick Here To Read/Download The Order

Employee's Service In NTPC School, Approved By West Bengal Board , Must Be Considered For Pension: Calcutta HC

Namdev Singh

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