### Judicial Appointees Completing Recruitment Post-2005 are Governed Solely by the New Pension Scheme

The petitioner was a candidate for the 24th Bihar Judicial Service Examination, advertised in 1990.

Although the interview was conducted in 1994, his formal appointment as a Munsif was delayed until 2006 due to pending litigation (Special Leave Petition) in the Supreme Court and administrative reasons.

He joined service on 07.03.2006 and superannuated as a Sub-Judge on 31.08.2016.

Since the Petitioner's appointment occurred after the cut-off date of 01.09.2005, he was placed under the New Pension Scheme (NPS).

The petitioner sought a writ to quash the order dated 23.08.2024, which rejected his request to convert his pension from NPS to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), arguing that his selection process related to vacancies existing prior to 2004.

1. Whether an employee appointed after the introduction of the New Pension Scheme can claim the benefit of the Old Pension Scheme on the ground that the recruitment process/vacancy originated prior to the scheme's implementation.

2. Whether the petitioner is entitled to parity with peers who joined prior to 01.01.2004 from the same merit list.

The Court applied the cut-off date principle established by the Government of Bihar regarding the New Pension Scheme, which mandates that all appointments made after 01.09.2005 fall under the NPS.

The Court specifically relied on the precedent of *Baij Nath Ram vs. The State of Bihar & Ors*.

No specific analysis section was provided in the prompt. The judgment's analysis would typically detail how the cut-off date principle was applied to the petitioner's delayed appointment despite an earlier advertisement.

The court would explain why the origin of the vacancy or the advertisement date does not override the actual date of appointment for pension scheme applicability.