Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Nov 11: The Division Bench of High Court in a significant judgment set aside the Writ Court judgment whereby the retired employees of State Industrial Development Corporation (SIDCO), JK Industrial Corporation and JK State Forest Corporation were held to be entitled for pensionary benefits.
The Division Bench of Justice Sanjeev Kumar and Justice Rajnesh Oswal decided a batch of appeal filed by the erstwhile State Government against the judgment of Writ Court where by Government was directed to pay and grant pensionary benefits to these retired employees of SIDCO at par with the other Government employees. The writ petitioners, the respondents herein, are retired employees of SIDCO, who were not paid any retirement pension at the time of their superannuation. They claim to have made some representations to the appellants for release of pensionary benefits but could not persuade the appellants for grant of retirement pension.
“Accordingly, we allow these appeals and set aside the judgment of the Single Judge. Resultantly, the writ petition shall stand dismissed”, the DB concluded.
The SIDCO contends that it had its separate Service Regulations which did not provide for payment of pension to its retiring employees. It was thus the stand of the SIDCO that its employees were not similarly situated with the employees of the JKI and, therefore, the retired employees were not entitled to draw any analogy with the judgment that was passed in favour of the employees of JKI.
The DB after hearing both the parties at length reached to the conclusion that the Right to Pension is not a fundamental right guaranteed by any Article of Part III of the Constitution of India. Court said it is a mere condition of service. Whether or not an employee of the Government or a Statutory Corporation is entitled to pension, is determined by the terms and conditions of his employment.
These terms and conditions, court added may be contractual or statutory in nature and no employee of the Government or of any Public or Private Corporation can claim retirement pension de hors the rules and regulations governing conditions of his service.
“Even the Government employees who have been recruited/appointed after cutoff date mentioned in SRO 400 of 2010 are not entitled to pension which clearly means that even the Government employees who are appointed after a particular date are now not entitled to pension”, court said.
Court opined that the respondent-retired employees are governed by EPF Scheme which is also a post retiral benefit usually paid in lieu of pension. “We have found no material on record which could persuade us to agree with the senior counsel that Rules and Regulations of SIDCO are silent on the payment of pension to its employees and therefore, by aid of J&K CSR, they are entitled to pension”, court said.
The DB concluded that no employee, as a matter of right, is entitled to claim retirement pension in addition to other post retiral benefits unless there is a specific provision in this regard made in the terms and conditions of his service.
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