### Contractual Service Counts Toward Qualifying Pension Service but Not for Retrospective Seniority Fixation

The Petitioners/Applicants were medical doctors initially engaged by the Govt. of NCT of Delhi (GNCTD) on a contractual basis against sanctioned posts between 1996 and 2006

Prior to 2009, there was no independent Delhi Health Service (DHS) cadre

In 2009, the Delhi Health Services (Allopathy) Rules were notified, providing for the "Initial Constitution" of the service

Under Rule 6(2), contractual doctors appointed on or before 18.12.2006 were inducted into the regular DHS cadre at the "entry level" following a suitability assessment by the UPSC in 2012

The GNCTD fixed 23.12.2009 (the date the Rules were notified) as the date of regular induction for seniority purposes

The doctors challenged this before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), seeking seniority from their initial dates of contractual appointment and the counting of such service for pensionary benefits

The CAT rejected the seniority claims but passed varying orders regarding pension

1. Whether the period of contractual service rendered prior to regular induction under the 2009 DHS Rules is liable to be counted for the purpose of reckoning seniority.

2. Whether such contractual service rendered against sanctioned posts must be reckoned as "qualifying service" for pension under the applicable service rules.

The court primarily applied the Delhi Health Services (Allopathy) Rules, 2009, specifically Rule 6(2) regarding the "Initial Constitution" through deeming fiction

Rule 9(4) which explicitly prohibits counting contractual increments for length of service or seniority

Rule 14(2)(c) which mandates the New Pension Scheme for Rule 6(2) inductees

Regarding pension, the court applied Rules 13 and 17 of the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972, which allow temporary or contractual service to count as "qualifying service" if followed by substantive appointment without interruption

The court relied on the Supreme Court precedents in State of H.P. v. Sheela Devi and S.D. Jayaprakash v. Union of India, establishing that continuous pre-reguularization service against sanctioned posts cannot be ignored for pension where statutory rules permit

The Court reasoned that seniority is a statutory right governed strictly by the 2009 DHS Rules

Since Rule 6(2) inducts contractual doctors "at the entry level" and Rule 9(4) expressly bars counting contractual service for seniority, there is no legal basis for retrospective seniority

The "deeming fiction" in Rule 6(2) facilitates cadre absorption but does not relate back the appointment date

However, regarding pension, the Court distinguished seniority from "qualifying service."

It noted that CCS (Pension) Rules 13 and 17 specifically permit counting prior temporary or contractual service if followed by regular appointment without a break

Following Sheela Devi, the Court held that while the 2009 Rules fix the regime of pension (New Pension Scheme), they do not override the general principle that continuous past service against sanctioned posts should count toward the length of qualifying service for pensionary eligibility

(2) Contractual service rendered against sanctioned posts shall be counted as "qualifying service" for pension, provided it was continuous and followed by induction, subject to the conditions in the CCS (Pension) Rules

Specifically, in W.P.(C) 4929/2019, the interregnum period of termination (not set aside) was excluded from qualifying service

The GNCTD was directed to re-compute qualifying service for eligible doctors within twelve weeks

W.P.(C) 1265/2018, 5221/2018, 10928/2019, and 835/2020 were dismissed/disposed of with these observations, while W.P.(C) 167/2019 and 4929/2019 were partly allowed