Employees retiring under SVRS after ten years’ service are entitled to proportionate pension.

The Petitioner was appointed in the erstwhile Delhi Electric Supply Undertaking (DESU) on 7 December 1983 and was subsequently transferred to BSES Yamuna Power Ltd. (BYPL) pursuant to the bifurcation and privatisation of the Delhi Vidyut Board under the Transfer Scheme, 2002.

BYPL introduced a Special Voluntary Retirement Scheme (SVRS) on 18 December 2003. The Petitioner opted for the Scheme and was released from service on 31 December 2003 after acceptance of his application.

Although his pension commenced from 1 November 2004 and his GPF was released on 10 November 2005, his ad hoc pension and other terminal benefits, including gratuity, leave encashment, pension and commutation benefits, remained unpaid.

He therefore filed the writ petition under Article 226 seeking payment of the outstanding terminal benefits with interest.

The Division Bench subsequently decided the analogous issue in BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd. v. Kewal Krishan & Ors., LPA 575/2023, and the Petitioner’s Review Petition No. 58/2026 was dismissed on 10 July 2026.

Whether the Petitioner, having retired under the SVRS after rendering more than ten years of service, was entitled to pension and other terminal benefits under the Scheme and the applicable Pension Rules.

Whether the relief in the present petition was required to be granted in terms of the Division Bench judgment in LPA 575/2023 concerning employees who retired under the same SVRS.

The Court applied the terms of the SVRS, particularly Clauses 1.1, 1.2 and 4, under which eligible regular employees completing ten years of service or attaining forty years of age were permitted to retire voluntarily and were entitled to benefits including leave encashment, gratuity and pension.

It relied on Rule 3(q) of the Pension Rules, 1972, which defines “qualifying service” as service rendered while on duty, and Rules 48(a), 48(b) and 49 concerning voluntary retirement and proportionate pension.

The Division Bench held that the special SVRS provisions prevailed over the general pension provisions insofar as eligibility for voluntary retirement was concerned, and that employees with between ten and twenty years of service were entitled to proportionate pension under Rule 49(2)(b).

The Court further adopted the Division Bench’s directions that pension up to the employee’s attainment of sixty years would be payable through SVRS RTBF, 2004, with reimbursement by the DVB Pension Trust, while the subsequent pension would be paid by the appropriate authority under the applicable Pension Rules or law.

The Petitioner had served DESU/DVB and BYPL for more than the minimum period prescribed under the SVRS and had validly retired pursuant to acceptance of his SVRS application.

The Division Bench’s interpretation established that qualifying service under Rule 3(q) was not confined to service rendered after membership of the pension trust; rather, the employee’s service while on duty was relevant for determining pension eligibility.

Since the present case involved the same SVRS and substantially identical claims for pension and terminal benefits, the Court considered itself bound by and directed implementation of the Division Bench’s decision in LPA 575/2023.

The dismissal of the Review Petition did not alter that position.

Accordingly, the Petitioner was held entitled to the pensionary and terminal benefits available under the SVRS and applicable Pension Rules, including proportionate pension where applicable, in accordance with the allocation of liability and payment directions laid down by the Division Bench.

All pending applications were also disposed of.