April 1, 2005, cut-off date for old pension scheme: Allahabad HC

LUCKNOW: In a major relief to teaching and non-teaching staff of UP basic education department, a Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court on Wednesday said that those appointed prior to April 1, 2005, are entitled to benefit of Old Pension Scheme (OPS) run prior to that cut-off date.
Allowing more than five-dozen writ petitions, the bench of Justice Irshad Ali directed the state government and the basic education department to treat the writ petitioners to be covered under OPS and pay pension to the retired teaching and non-teaching staff accordingly.
The petitions were filed by the UP Senior Basic Shiksha Sangh and several other individual teachers and non-teaching staff. The bench had reserved its order on March 10, 2021 and pronounced it on Wednesday.
The petitioners had challenged the order of March 28, 2005, issued by a special secretary of the state government whereby it implemented a new pension scheme in the basic education department from April 1, 2005. The petitioners were denied benefit of the old pension scheme on the ground that their institutions were allowed grant-in-aid in 2006, ie, after the cut-off date on April 1, 2005.
Arguing for the petitioners, senior lawyer LP Mishra pleaded that the order of the special secretary neither can be termed as a policy decision of the state government nor does it amount to be a government notification and since all the petitioners were already appointed prior to cut off date, I.e., April 1, 2005, they cannot be prevented from benefit of old pension scheme.
Opposing the plea, the state lawyer argued that the order of the special secretary was perfectly legal and did not warrant any interference.
Setting aside the order of special secretary, the bench observed, “The special secretary has nowhere considered while passing the impugned order of March 28, 2005, that the recruitment and condition of service of the teaching and the non-teaching staff were same on the date of taking the institutions on grant-in-aid list vide order of December 2, 2006. Therefore, the petitioners before this court who have been granted appointment much prior to enforcement of NPS vide notification issued on March 28, 2005, which was made effective from April 1, 2005, shall not affect the right of the petitioners to be covered under OPS.”
The bench said, “In case the service required for reckoning the qualifying service for the payment of pension is insufficient, the service rendered prior to taking into consideration on grant-in-aid list shall be counted for the purpose after deposit of manager’s contribution and accordingly the pension shall be released in their favour.”