Jharkhand High Court Upholds Extension Of Benefit Of Old Pension Scheme To IIT(ISM) Employee Appointed After Floating Of New Scheme

The appeal before the High Court was filed by the Appellant Authorities (Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines).The writ petitioner (respondent), in this case, had approached the Writ Court seeking a direction commanding the second respondent to extend the benefits of Old Pension Scheme (OPS)/ GPF-cum-Pension to the petitioner on the ground that the Advertisement was issued on September 2, 2003, whereas the New Pension Scheme (NPS) was introduced on December 22, 2003 and was made effective from January 1, 2004.

The Division Bench of Chief Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Rajesh Shankar noted, “The same question again came up for consideration before the learned Delhi High Court in W.P. (C) No. 756 of 2020, in case title Dr. Davinder Singh Brar v. Union of India and others, reported in (2020) SCC Online Del 2771 decided on 28.01.2020 (Annexure-8) and again the very same view was reiterated that once a candidate got selected in pursuance to an advertisement issued prior to 01.01.2004 i.e. the date when the new defined Contributory Pension Scheme has come into being and even selection was made prior to the said date, merely issuance of appointment letter after the date when the new Contributory Pension Scheme came into being, will not take away the right of the appointee to be governed under the Old Pension Scheme.”

It further explained, “Where the advertisement has been issued prior to 01.01.2004, then the appointee, even if appointed after 01.01.2004, would be governed by the Old Pension Scheme, then in this case, the New Contributory Pension Scheme which came into existence only from 01.01.2004 cannot be made applicable to such appointees who shall continue to be governed by law that existed at the relevant time and in the instant case, the Old Pension Scheme.”

Factual Backgroun

The respondent was appointed to the post of Deputy Medical Officer in the Indian Telephone Industries Limited, a Public Sector Undertaking of the Government of India, in 1992. While he was posted as such, an advertisement was issued by the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, for appointment to the post of Senior Medical Officer. The respondent submitted his application, and the selection process, according to the respondent, was delayed at the hands of the appellants. The respondent was called for the interview and thereafter offered an appointment on April 12, 2004.

However, in the meantime, the New Pension Scheme was notified on December 22, 2003 and made effective from January 1, 2004. Pursuant to the selection, the respondent was relieved from the post of Senior Medical Officer in the Indian Telephone Industries Limited, and thereafter, he joined the Indian School of Mines on June 30, 2004. Upon joining the new assignment, the respondent was kept in New Pension Scheme and not in the Old Pension Scheme contrary to the terms and conditions of the Advertisement dated September 2, 2003. The respondent raised repeated requests to the appellants-authorities to keep him in the Old Pension Scheme but in vain.

When the appellants took no action on the same, the respondent approached the writ Court. The writ Court allowed the writ petition by concluding that if the Advertisement was floated prior to the coming into effect of a new Scheme i.e. New Pension Scheme (NPS), all such benefits which were in vogue and available at the time of publication of the advertisement would continue to be made available to the new entrants, as if they joined the post prior to the cut-off date, so fixed and his offer of appointment was issued after the cut-off date, would not affect the rights of the new entrants. Aggrieved thereby, the appellants approached the High Court.

Reasoning

The Bench referred to the judgment of the Delhi High Court in Inspector Rajendra Singh and others v. Union of India and others (2017) wherein it was held that wherever the appointment was made after January 1, 2004, for the post which was advertised prior to January 1, 2004, the Old Pension Scheme would be applicable.

The Bench was of the view that the appointee, even if appointed after January 1, 2004, would be governed by the Old Pension Scheme.

“In addition to the above, it also needs to be noticed that in the advertisement, copy whereof has been annexed as Annexure-A/1, it is clearly provided that 5 posts, so advertised including the post of Senior Medical Officer, would carry allowance, Medical, LTC benefits and GPF-cum-Pension benefits as are applicable to the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad. If essentially, the appointment of the respondent was to be governed by the condition, as it is more than settled that the advertisement is sacrosanct and binding on both the parties”, it further observed.

Thus, finding no merit in the appeal, the Bench dismissed the same.

Cause Title: Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) v. Dr. Praveen Kumar (Neutral Citation: 2025:JHHC:28852-DB)

Appearance

Petitioner: Central Government Counsel Abhijeet Kumar Singh

Respondent: Advocates Manoj Tandon, Siddharth Ranjan, Shivani Bhardwaj

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