Smt. Shruti Agrawal vs State of U.P. Thru. Prin. Secy. Deptt. Basic Education and 5 Others — Allahabad HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

Smt. Shruti Agrawal vs State of U.P. Thru. Prin. Secy. Deptt. Basic Education and 5 Others — Allahabad HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Direction to respondent no.2/Principal Secretary, Department of Basic Education, Government of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow to decide the petitioner's representation dated 19.12.2025 within eight weeks from the date of production of a certified copy of the order before him; writ petition disposed of without entering into merits.

Issue for consideration

Whether a mandamus should issue commanding opposite party no.2 to include/cover the petitioner's services under the old pension scheme prevalent prior to 01.04.2005 and to make appropriate deductions accordingly. +1 more

Court's answer

The Court did not decide the petitioner's claim for coverage under the old pension scheme on merits; that question was left to respondent no.2 for decision on the pending representation.

Ratio / Principle

Without entering into the merits, the Court directed respondent no.2/Principal Secretary, Department of Basic Education, Government of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow to decide the petitioner's representation dated 19.12.2025 within a period of eight weeks from the date of production of a certified copy of the order before him.

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Service law - Old Pension Scheme - WRIT - A No. - 117 of 2026, High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench (Shree Prakash Singh, J.), decided January 9, 2026. Smt. Shruti Agrawal petitioned against the State of U.P. and 5 others for mandamus commanding the Principal Secretary, Department of Basic Education (opposite party no.2) to (i) include/cover her services under the old pension scheme prevalent prior to 01.04.2005 with appropriate deductions, and (ii) decide her representation dated 19.12.2025 regarding old pension benefits and gratuity. After argument at length, learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the interest of justice would be subserved if respondent no.2 were directed to consider and decide the pending representation within a stipulated period; learned counsel for the State had no objection. Without entering into the merits of the case, the Court disposed of the writ petition directing respondent no.2 to decide the representation dated 19.12.2025 within a period of eight weeks from the date of production of a certified copy of the order before him. No statute or precedent is cited in the judgment.

HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD LUCKNOW

WRIT - A No. - 117 of 2026

Smt. Shruti Agrawal

.....Petitioner(s)

Versus

State Of U.P. Thru. Prin. Secy. Deptt. Basic Education And 5 Others

.....Respondent(s)

Counsel for Petitioner(s) : Abhay Kumar Dixit Counsel for Respondent(s) : C.S.C., Piyush Kumar Singh, Pradeep Tiwari

Court No. - 18

HON'BLE SHREE PRAKASH SINGH, J.

Heard learned counsel for the petitioner, Mr. Raghvendra Singh, learned counsel for the State, Mr. Ran Vijay Singh, learned counsel for the respondent no.4, Mr. Ram Pratap Singh, Advocate, holding brief of Mr. Pradeep Tiwari, learned counsel for the respondent nos.5 & 6 and perused the material on record.

Present petition has been filed with the following main prayers:-

"(i) Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of MANDAMUS commanding the opposite party No. 2 {Principal Secretary, Department of Basic Education, Government of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow} to include/cover the services of the petitioner under the old pension scheme and to make appropriate deductions as per the old pension scheme which was prevalent prior to 01.04.2005.

(ii) Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of MANDAMUS commanding the opposite party No. 2 {Principal Secretary, Department of Basic Education, Government of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow} to decide the petitioner's representation dated 19.12.2025 regarding the old pension benefits and gratuity."

Learned counsel for the petitioner, after argument at length, submits that the interest of justice would be subserved if this Hon'ble Court may be pleased to direct the respondent no.2 to consider and decide the representation of the petitioner dated 19.12.2025 pending consideration within stipulated period

WRIA No. 117 of 2026

2

of time as may be fixed by this Court.

Learned counsel for the State has no objection to the submission aforesaid.

Be that as it may, without entering into merits of the case, the respondent no.2/Principal Secretary, Department of Basic Education, Government of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow is directed to decide the representation dated 19.12.2025, within a period of eight weeks from the date of production of certified copy of this order before him.

With the aforesaid observations, the writ petition is disposed of .

(Shree Prakash Singh,J.)

January 9, 2026 Ram Murti

Digitally signed by :- RAM MURTI YADAV High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench