Denied OPS, govt staffer gets HC relief

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court (MHC) has granted relief to a government employee, who was denied the Old Pension Scheme as his joining date falls after the implementation of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) though he was selected for employment much earlier.

The court directed the State to absorb the petitioner under the Old Pension Scheme, citing that he was selected for employment before the implementation of CPS but not appointed for want of a vacant post. “It is the misfortune of the petitioner...that he could not assume office,” wrote the first division bench comprising Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice Bharatha Chakravarthy.

The petitioner was selected and issued the appointment order much before the cut-off date of the applicability of the CPS. Hence, the State shall treat the petitioner as governed by the old pension scheme and not by CPS, read the judgment. The petitioner, N Sankar, had moved the MHC seeking a directive to the State to grant him the regular scheme of pensionary benefits.

According to the petitioner, he was selected in the Group-IV service in 1999-2000 conducted by the TNPSC and declared as a successful candidate eligible for employment. Even though he was issued with an appointment order in 2001 to join as a junior assistant in the office of the Collector, Tiruvallur district, he was sent back as there was no vacancy.

After the petitioner requested an appointment elsewhere, a second appointment order was issued on December 23, 2003, and he joined the Department of Agricultural Marketing & Agri Business. In the interregnum, CPS was implemented in the State.

According to CPS, each employee has to pay a monthly contribution of 10 per cent of basic pay and dearness allowance from their salary to the pension scheme.