Can defence employees claim pension for past service after voluntary resignation? What court order says
The Meghalaya High Court has ruled that defence employees who voluntarily resign from service cannot later claim pension for past service as the discharge process entail forfeiting such benefits, according to a Live Law report.
Hearing a case filed by a former rifleman of the Assam Rifles, who self-requested discharge after 13 years of service, the Meghalaya HC stated that voluntary resignation entails forfeiture of past service under Rule 26(1) of the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972, the report added.
The report identified the petitioner as L Pearlson, who was appointed as a Rifleman (General Duty) in Assam Rifles on 3 January 1986. He claimed discharge from service on 30 June 1999, without voluntarily seeking discharge, alleging that his signatures had been obtained on a pre-typed document.
The respondents however said the petitioner sought premature discharge in 1998 on extreme compassionate grounds due to his wife's illness and had acknowledged that he would not be entitled to pensionary benefits.
In November 2021, the authorities rejected his claim for pension, and he moved the Meghalaya High Court challenging the decision.
According to the judgement, the court referred to Rule 49(2), which specifies that employees qualify for pension after completing 10 years of service, and Rule 26(1) of the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972, which bars such benefits in case of voluntary resignation, the report said.
“Voluntarily resignation from a post entails forfeiture of all past services and is therefore not entitled to pensionary benefits. Rule 26(1) placed in juxtaposition with Rule 49(2), it is apparent that since Rule 26(1) operates as a bar to future service benefits, therefore, Rule 49(2) would become inapplicable in such a scenario,” the HC order stated.
The court in its judgement noted that the petitioners' discharge certificate dates his discharge on compassionate grounds to December 1998 and shows that he had knowledge that pension benefits would be waived with his choice. It said voluntary discharge request can be treated as resignation and thus Rule 26(1) applies.
The bench also rejected the claim for “delay and laches” as the petitioner filed his claim in 2021, around 22 years after discharge, without providing any plausible explanation for the delay.
As per the report, the HC dismissed the petition and, in its order, dated 29 October directing authorities to release ₹5,656 towards the petitioner's Individual Running Ledger Account i.e. IRLA account; and ₹53,642 towards his General Provident Fund (GPF) account within 30 days, if not already paid.
For about a decade, Livemint—News Desk has been a credible source for authentic and timely news, and well-researched analysis on national news, business, personal finance, corporates, politics and geopolitics. We bring the latest updates on all the listed companies on BSE and NSE, startups, mutual funds, Union ministries, geopolitics, and untapped human interest stories from around the world, helping our readers to stay informed on the latest developments around the globe. Our Coverage Areas 1. Companies: Comprehensive news and analysis on listed and unlisted companies, corporate announcements, corporate chatter, C-suite, business trends, hiring alerts, layoffs, work-life balance, world's top billionaires and richest and more. 2. Personal finance: Insights into mutual funds, small savings schemes like - PPF, SSY, post office savings scheme, stock to watch, personal loans, credit cards, top bank FDs, real estate, income tax and more. 3. Politics: Comprehensive coverage of general elections, state elections and bypolls, Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha, Parliament, PMO, PIB, finance ministry, home ministry, among other union ministries and government departments. 4. National News: From metro cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and e to untapped stories from rural India, we cover human interest, health, education, crime and courts, and law and order, among other areas of public interest. 5. Economy: In-depth analysis of India's macro and micro-economic indicators like- GDP, inflation, forex, fiscal deficit, current account deficit, interest rate cycle, economic recovery, RBI circulars, indirect taxes, GST, Insolvency and Bankruptcy imports, exports and everything that impacts Indian economy. 6. Geopolitics: Well-rounded and deeply researched coverage on US News, Oval Office European Union, Ukraine Russia War, middle-east crisis, royal families and global leaders like - Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, Xi Jinping and premiers of other leading economies in the world. Meet the Team 1. Gulam Jeelani, Political Affairs Editor 2. Sugam Singhal, Senior Assistant Editor 3. Chanchal, Assistant Editor 4. Sanchari Ghosh, Chief Content Producer 5. Pratik Prashant Mukane, Chief Content Producer 6. Sayantani Biswas, Chief Content Producer 7. Ravi Hari, Deputy Chief Content Producer 8. Garvit Bhirani, Deputy Chief Content Producer 9. Akriti Anand, Senior Content Producer 10. Jocelyn Felix Fernandes, Senior Content Producer 11. Swastika Das Sharma, Content Producer 12. Mausam Jha, Content Producer 13. Riya R Alex, Trainee Content Producer
Catch all the Instant Personal Loan, Business Loan, Business News, Money news, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
More
✕
Wait for it…
Oops! Looks like you have exceeded the limit to bookmark the image. Remove some to bookmark this image.