SC rejects state’s appeal against pension

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TIMES NEWS NETWORK

06.01.2022

Ahmedabad: The Supreme Court has turned down Gujarat government’s appeal and held that all petitioner lecturers and professors of Gujarat’s universities, who had not opted for pension scheme in favour of contributory provident fund, are eligible for the pension schemes though they had missed the bus 30 yearsago.

The litigations were initiated after many teaching and non-teaching staff, including lecturers from government and aided colleges, were denied pension scheme benefits as they had opted for a one-time payment by the government at the time of retirement.

After ignoring the op- tion given by the state government on a couple of occasions in the 1980s, these employees approached the government at the time of their retirement and requested they be considered for the pension scheme.

Besides, in the appointments made after 1982, the government did not offer the option at all. The employees also sought pension benefit after retirement by citing a 1984 government resolution.

However, the government rejected their request for pension benefits and the dispute landed in the high court with hundreds of retired college teachers demanding extension of the pension scheme and complaining that the government had not given them the opportunity to exercise the option on grounds of financial implications.

The single-judge bench of the HC allowed the petitions in2016andorderedthe government to grant pension to the petitioners on condition that the petitioners should refund the amount paid to them towards the provident fund.

There were four batches of such litigations and all the petitions were allowed. The state government challenged the decisions before the division bench, which rejected its appeals in 2019.

One such rejected appeal was carried to the apex court by the state government contending that despite being granted the opportunity on multiple occasions, the petitioners had not opted for the pension scheme. At a belated stage, their request cannot be acceded to, the government argued. The bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and A S Bopanna dismissed the state government’s appeal on December 17, 2021 stating that one of the batches of such petitions allowed by HC had attained finality. There was no difference between the petitioners who succeeded and are drawing pension and the present petitioners. 

“Consequently, it would be wholly iniquitous to apply a different yardstick to a batch of pensioners who are respondents to these proceedings, when the judgment of the high court has attained finality in respect of a similar batch of pensioners who are governed by the same judgment. They are receiving pensions,” the order read.