Casual laborers granted temporary status before 31.12.2003 are entitled to Old Pension Scheme coverage upon regularization.

The applicant is the widow of Late Sh. Hemraj, who was appointed as a daily wager in the CBI in 1993 and granted "temporary status" effective 03.07.1997

An office order dated 08.09.1997 stipulated that after three years of continuous service following the grant of temporary status, he would be treated at par with Group ‘D’ employees for GPF and other benefits

Although his regularization was processed starting in 2001, he was formally appointed as a Safaiwala on a temporary basis only on 02.12.2005 against a sanctioned vacancy

His services were terminated in 2006, but this was quashed by the Tribunal in O.A. No. 1411/2006, which granted him all consequential benefits

Following his death in 2016, the applicant sought family pension and retirement benefits, arguing that her husband should have been treated as a regular employee three years after his 1997 conferment of temporary status

1. Whether the deceased employee is entitled to be covered under the Old Pension Scheme (CCS Pension Rules, 1972) or the National Pension Scheme (NPS) based on the date of his grant of temporary status versus his formal regularization

2. Whether the applicant is entitled to family pension and interest on arrears of retirement benefits

The court primarily applied the "Casual Labourers (Grant of Temporary Status and Regularization) Scheme of Government of India, 1993," which governs the transition of casual workers to temporary status and eventual regularization

DoPT instructions stating that casual labourers covered under the 1993 Scheme (granted temporary status on or before 31.12.2003) are entitled to the Old Pension Scheme (CCS Pension Rules, 1972) upon regularization, even if such regularization occurs after the 31.12.2003 cut-off for NPS

The court also referenced the principle of regularization against sanctioned posts from State of Karnataka v. Umadevi

Full Bench decision in Rajbir Singh v. UOI & Ors. (OA No. 2816/2011) regarding the payment of interest at GPF rates on pensionary arrears

The Tribunal examined the respondents' instructions, which admitted that although formal regularization occurred in 2005 due to the non-availability of sanctioned posts earlier, the deceased had achieved temporary status as of 08.09.1997

The court noted that under prevailing DoPT guidelines, the date of conferment of temporary status (if before 31.12.2003) is the decisive factor for inclusion in the Old Pension Scheme (OPS)

The respondents conceded that granting temporary status from 1997 instead of 2005 would qualify the employee for OPS rather than NPS

the court observed that since the employee had completed more than three years of service after the conferment of temporary status (by 2000 or even by 2008 if 2005 was used), the family became eligible for pension benefits prior to his death in 2016

The respondents were directed to grant the applicant family pension and all other retirement benefits, treating her husband at par with temporary Group ‘D’ employees

the Tribunal ordered the payment of interest at the prevalent GPF rate (7.1% p.a.) on all arrears of pension and retirement benefits, as per the Rajbir Singh precedent

The exercise must be completed within three months of the receipt of the order