Casual laborers granted temporary status after January 1, 2004, are ineligible for family pension under CCS (Pension) Rules.

The applicant’s deceased husband, Late S.K. Kalegowda, served as a Skilled Farm Worker at the Central Sericultural Research and Training Institute for 35 years

He was granted "Temporary Status" (TS) originally effective from 01.07.2015, which was later retrospectively modified to 19.03.2005 by the Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka

Kalegowda expired on 22.05.2021 while still in service without being formally regularized

The applicant initially accepted EPF family pension but later filed this Original Application seeking family pension and consequential benefits under the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972, arguing that her husband should be deemed regularized as a Group 'D' employee after three years of TS service per DoPT OM dated 10.09.1993

The respondents contended that regularization was not possible due to a ban on filling posts and that CCS (Pension) Rules do not apply as his TS was granted after the 01.01.2004 cutoff

1. Whether an employee granted "Temporary Status" effective from a date subsequent to 01.01.2004 is eligible for family pension under the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972?

2. Whether the applicant is entitled to the benefit of the Old Pension Scheme based on the DoPT OM dated 28.07.2016 and the 1993 Casual Labourers Scheme?

The court primarily applied the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972, which regulate retirement benefits for Central Government employees appointed before January 1, 2004

It referred to the DoPT OM dated 10.09.1993 (Casual Labourers Grant of Temporary Status and Regularization Scheme), which treats casual labourers with three years of continuous TS service at par with temporary Group ‘D’ employees for certain benefits

The court also considered the precedent in Jagrit Mazdoor Union (Regd.) v. Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. (1990) regarding the entitlement of casual labourers

The court also considered the DoPT OM dated 28.07.2016, which clarifies the applicability of the Old Pension Scheme to casual labourers regularized after 2004 if they were covered under the 1993 scheme prior to the cutoff

The Tribunal distinguished the present case from the precedents cited by the applicant, noting that in all referred judgments (e.g., Munni Devi, S.K. Sharma), the deceased employees had been conferred "Temporary Status" on or before 01.01.2004

In contrast, the applicant’s husband was granted TS effective from 19.03.2005 pursuant to the High Court's order in Sri S. Ramesha v. Central Silk Board

Since the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972, only apply to those appointed/granted status before the 2004 cutoff, the deceased did not qualify for the Old Pension Scheme

The Tribunal further observed that the DoPT OM dated 28.07.2016 was inapplicable because the 1993 Scheme was only adopted by the Central Silk Board effective from 19.03.2005, which is post-cutoff

Finally, the Tribunal noted that the employee’s service was never regularized during his lifetime, and a separate Writ Petition (WP No. 325/2020) regarding his regularization remains pending before the High Court

However, the OA was disposed of with the observation that this order shall be subject to the final outcome of Writ Petition No. 325/2020 pending before the Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka regarding the regularization of the deceased's services

No order as to costs was made