Single Judge held that temporary service rendered before 01.04.2003 counts towards qualifying pension service even if regularized after the cut-off. Quashed 2003 cut-off provision and directed 50% weightage for temporary service.
Respondents to reconsider cases, count 50% temporary service for pension, and pass orders within 4 months.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED : 08.09.2017
CORAM
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE S.M.SUBRAMANIAM
W.P.Nos.21031 to 21034 of 2017
K.Chinnamaruthu ...Petitioner in W.P.No.21031 of 2017 S.Marimuthu ...Petitioner in W.P.No.21032 of 2017 P.Jayaraman ...Petitioner in W.P.No.21033 of 2017 M.Kasi ...Petitioner in W.P.No.21034 of 2017 -vs-
1.The State of Tamil Nadu,
Rep. by its Secretary to Government,
Environment and Forest Department,
Fort St. George, Chennai - 9.
2.The Principal Chief Conservator of Forest,
Panagal Building, Saidapet, Chennai - 15.
1.The State of Tamil Nadu, Rep. by its Secretary to Government, Environment and Forest Department, Fort St. George, Chennai - 9.
2.The Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Panagal Building, Saidapet, Chennai - 15.
3.The Divisional Forest Officer, Perambalur Forestry Division, Perambalur.
4.The Principal Accountant General of Tamil Nadu, Teynampet, Chennai – 18. ...Respondents in W.P.No.21033 of 2017
W.P.No.21031 of 2017: Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, praying for the issue of a Writ of Mandamus, directing the 1 to 3 respondents to count the half of service rendered by the petitioner as Plot Watcher from 01.11.1980 to 06.08.2009 on temporary basis along with the regular service from 07.08.2009 till the date of retirement on 30.04.2016 as qualifying service for the purpose of conferment of pension and to direct the respondents to send pension proposal including family pension, Gratuity and Commuted Value of pension to the fourth respondent to authorize the same with all consequential benefits within time frame.
W.P.No.21032 of 2017: Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, praying for the issue of a Writ of Mandamus, directing the 1 to 3 respondents to count the half of service rendered by the petitioner as Social Forestry Workers from 04.09.1982 to 06.08.2009 on temporary basis along with the regular service from 07.08.2009 till the date of retirement on 31.03.2013 as qualifying service for the purpose of conferment of pension and to direct the respondents to send pension proposal including family pension, Gratuity and Commuted Value of pension to the fourth respondent to authorize the same with all consequential benefits within time frame.
W.P.No.21033 of 2017: Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, praying for the issue of a Writ of Mandamus, directing the 1 to 3 respondents to count the half of service rendered by the petitioner as Plot Watcher from 01.01.1982 to 29.02.2016 on temporary basis along with the regular service from 01.03.2016 till the date of retirement on 30.06.2017 as qualifying service for the purpose of conferment of pension and to direct the respondents to send pension proposal including family pension, Gratuity and Commuted Value of pension to the fourth respondent to authorize the same with all consequential benefits within time frame.
W.P.No.21034 of 2017: Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, praying for the issue of a Writ of Mandamus, directing the 1 to 3 respondents to count the half of service rendered by the petitioner as Plot Watcher from 01.04.1982 to 06.08.2009 on temporary basis along with the regular service from 07.08.2009 till the date of retirement on 31.01.2010 as qualifying service for the purpose of conferment of pension and to direct the respondents to send pension proposal including family pension, Gratuity and Commuted Value of pension to the fourth respondent to authorize the same with all consequential benefits within time frame.
For Petitioner :: Ms.K.Jenitha in all W.Ps.
For R1 to R3 :: Mr.M.Santhanaraman in all W.Ps.
Addl. Government Pleader (Forest)
For R4 :: Ms.T.S.Selvarani in all W.Ps.
COMMON ORDER
The common relief sought for in all these batch of writ petitions are to calculate 50% of the services rendered by the writ petitioners in the respective post as part time/temporary/casual in Government Departments for the purpose of counting the qualifying services in order to grant pension under Tamil Nadu Pension Rules, 1978.
Rule 11-QUALIFYING SERVICE
(2) Half of the service paid from contingencies shall be allowed to count towards qualifying service for pension along with regular service subject to the following conditions:
● service paid from contingencies shall be in a job
involving whole time employment and not part time for a portion of the day.
[Half of the service rendered by State Government employee under non-pensionable establishment shall be allowed to be counted for pensionary benefits along with regular service under pensionable establishment subject to the following conditions.
(a) Service under non-pensionable establishment should have been in a job involving whole time employment.
(b) The service under non-pensionable establishment should have been on time scale of pay.
(c) The service under non-pensionable establishment should have been continuous and followed by absorption in pensionable establishment without a break.
(3) These orders shall take effect from the date of this Government Order. In respect of those who retired prior to the date of this order, eligible pension or revised pension, as the case may be, shall be paid from the date of this order, and that there can be no claim for arrears in any case for the period upto the date of this order.
Note: In the case of the employees of the former Pudukkottai State and persons transferred from the
former Travancore-Cochin State consequent on the reorganisation of State temporary or officiating service rendered in a regular capacity under the former Pudukkottai State or the former Travancore-Cochin State shall count in full for purposes of pension:
Provided that-
(a) in the case of a Government Servant, service rendered before attaining the age of eighteen years shall not count, except for compensation gratuity;
(b) in the case of a Government Servant whose year and month of birth are known, but not the exact date the 16th of the month should be treated as the date of birth. When the year of birth is known but not the month and date 1st July if the year shall be taken.
(c) in the case of a Government Servant with no military service who gives on recruitment only his age, but not the year of his birth the year should be arrived at by deducting from the year of recruitment the given age and then the date of birth should be taken as the 1st July of that year:
Provided further that in the case of a Government servant with previous military service the date of birth is fixed as laid down below:
When a military employee is transferred to a civil department under the Government and assumes a civilian status, the date of birth to be entered in his service book should be the date stated by him at the time of attestation.
When the documents referring to the previous military service of an individual do not give the definite date of birth but only the age stated at te time of attestation, he should be assumed to have completed the stated age on the date of attestation e.g., if one exsoldier was enrolled on 1st January 1910 and if, on that date, his age was stated to be 18, his date of birth should be taken as 1st Janurary 1892. This procedure will apply to cases arising on or after 27th June 1938.
Notwithstanding anything contained above in cases where S.S.L.C. or any other school certificate is available, the date of birth, as entered therein should be taken into account.
[Explanation.--For the purpose of date of birth, the word 'attestation' refers only to the initial records kept by the Defence Department at the time of
appointment of the individual and not in the discharge certificate on discharge from the Defence Department.] '
“10. The only issue arises for consideration in this Writ Petition is as to whether new Pension Scheme, which came into force from 01.01.2004, applicable to persons, who were already in employment either on daily wages or as temporary employees and whether, they are entitled to get pension under CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972 on being absorbed in permanent establishment after 01.01.2004.
after their absorption in regular post. The same is made clear in Para 5(iv) of IGCAR' s Office Order dated 13.01.2000. Para 5(iv) reads as follows:
Tamil Nadu Pension Rules, 1978 provides counting of 50% of the contingency service on similar terms and conditions as enumerated under the above Rule 14(2) of CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972. In the said case Plot Watcher of 'Forest Department, appointed on daily wage basis from 01.09.1982, without interruption was absorbed in regular service from 24.08.2005 and he retired on 31.07.2011. Applying Rule 11(2) of Tamil Nadu Pension and Rules 1978, 50% of the service from 01.09.1982 till 23.08.2005 was ordered to be counted along with the regular service from 24.08.2005 till 31.07.2011 and ordered sanction of eligible pension and other benefits . In the said case also, regularisation was granted after the new Pension Scheme was introduced with effect from 01.04.2003 by the State Government . The said Order was made in W.P.No. 8205 of 2011 dated 19.04.2011, which was confirmed in W.A.No.27 of 2012 dated 13.02.2012 as well as in S.L.P.No.16119 of 2012 dated 10.05.2012 and in W.P.No.14987 of 2012 dated 14.06.2012 .
accordance with the terms and conditions stipulated in the amended Rule 11 of the Tamil Nadu Pension Rules,1978. Accordingly, the benefit of extension of 50% of the services shall be extended, if the writ petitioners are qualified and eligible, based on the findings in this judgment (cited supra) as well as amended Rule 11 of the Tamil Nadu pension Rules.
ah/rna
Sd/Asst.Registrar
/true copy/
Sub Asst. Registrar
To
1.The Secretary to Government,
State of Tamil Nadu,
Environment and Forest Department,
Fort St. George, Chennai - 9.
2.The Principal Chief Conservator of Forest,
Panagal Building,
Saidapet, Chennai - 15.
3.The Divisional Forest Officer,
Social Forestry Division,
Trichy.
4.The Divisional Forest Officer,
Pudhukottai Forestry Division,
Pudhukottai.
5.The Divisional Forest Officer,
Perambalur Forestry Division,
Perambalur.
6.The Principal Accountant General of Tamil Nadu,
Teynampet,
Chennai – 18.
+4 cc to Mrs.K.Jenitha, Advance Sr.Nos.65904,65901,65902 & 65903
W.P.Nos.21031 to 21034 of 2017
PVS(CO)
RVR 13/10/2017
3 issues framed by the court
Whether temporary or casual service rendered prior to 01.04.2003 and regularized after that date is eligible for 50% weightage for pension calculation despite the 2003 cut-off date.
Whether the 01.04.2003 cut-off date in Rule 11 of Tamil Nadu Pension Rules, 1978 renders the petitioners ineligible for revised pension benefits.
Whether the State is directed to recalculate qualifying services including 50% weightage for temporary service for past decades.
Colour shows how this judgement treated each authority
Union of India Vs. K.PunniyakottiExplained¶55
Union of India Vs. K.Punniyakotti reported in 2014 [2] CTC 777
Kallakkurichi Taluk Retired Officials Association v. State of Tamil NaduDistinguished¶67
Kallakkurichi Taluk Retired Officials Association v.State of Tamil Nadu, 2013 (1) LLN 360 (SC)
D.S. Nakara v. Union of IndiaReferred¶67
D.S. Nakara v. Union of India, AIR 1983 SC 130 · Who else cites this
W.P. Nos. 26933 & 26934 of 2007Explained¶63
W.P. Nos.26933 & 26934 of 2007
3 provisions across 3 enactments
K.Chinnamaruthu
S.Marimuthu
P.Jayaraman
M.Kasi
State of Tamil Nadu
Principal Chief Conservator of Forest
S.M.Subramaniam
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
