Non-regularized temporary status employees are ineligible for CCS family pension and compassionate appointment.

The applicant is the widow of Late D. Gopal, who served as a Skilled Farm Worker (Temporary Status) at the Central Sericultural Germplasm Resources Centre under the Central Silk Board.

Having joined as a casual laborer in 1989, Gopal was conferred Temporary Status (TS) effective from 19.03.2005, a date modified by the Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka.

He died in harness on 18.05.2023 after 34 years of total service, including eight years with temporary status, without being regularized.

The applicant’s requests for family pension under the CCS (Pension) Rules and compassionate appointment were rejected by the Board.

The Respondents contended that the deceased was not a permanent employee, was not engaged against a sanctioned post, and was covered under the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) Scheme rather than the statutory pension rules.

1. Whether a widow of an employee granted Temporary Status effective after 01.01.2004 is entitled to family pension under the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972.

2. Whether the dependents of a deceased employee who held Temporary Status but was never regularized against a sanctioned post are eligible for compassionate appointment.

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

DoPT OM dated 10.09.1993 regarding the "Grant of Temporary Status and Regularisation of Casual Labourer" Scheme, noting that an employee is treated on par with Group ‘D’ only after three years of service subsequent to the grant of TS.

The Tribunal relied on the precedent of Umesh Nagpal v. State of Haryana, establishing that compassionate appointment is intended to tide over sudden financial crises and is generally reserved for regular employees.

It distinguished the applicant’s cited precedents (e.g., Munni Devi and Jagbiri Devi) because those cases involved employees who attained Temporary Status prior to the 01.01.2004 cutoff.

The Tribunal analyzed the timing of the grant of Temporary Status to determine eligibility for the Old Pension Scheme.

While the applicant relied on several judgments where TS employees received pensions, the Tribunal observed a critical factual distinction: in all cited cases, TS was conferred before 01.01.2004.

In the present case, the High Court of Karnataka had fixed the deceased's TS effective date as 19.03.2005.

Consequently, even though the deceased was entitled to benefits on par with Group ‘D’ employees, he fell outside the temporal scope of the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972.

Regarding compassionate appointment, the Tribunal noted that because the deceased was never regularized nor occupied a sanctioned post, the legal requirements for such an appointment were not met.

The Tribunal acknowledged that a separate Writ Petition (WP No. 325/2020) seeking the deceased’s regularization was still pending before the High Court.

The OAs were disposed of, with the caveat that the findings are subject to the final result of the pending regularization proceedings in Writ Petition No. 325/2020 before the Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka.