Notional increment for pensionary benefits is restricted to employees retiring on June 30 or December 31.

The applicant, Mahaveer Saran, was appointed as a Constable in the Railway Protection Force (RPF) on October 22, 1977, and retired as an Assistant Sub Inspector on May 31, 2014

Upon retirement, his pension was fixed based on his last drawn pay of Rs. 16,730/-

The applicant contended that since he had completed 11 months of continuous service from his last increment (July 1, 2013) until his retirement (May 31, 2014), he was entitled to one notional increment for the purpose of calculating pensionary benefits

The respondents denied this claim, asserting that under existing Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) and Railway Board instructions, such benefits are only applicable to employees retiring on June 30th or December 31st

Whether a Central Government employee who retires on May 31st is entitled to the grant of a notional increment for pensionary benefits for the period of service rendered since the last increment.

The court primarily applied the principle established by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Director (Admn. and HR) KPTCL & Ors. vs. C.P. Mundinamani & Ors. (2023), which held that an employee who completes one full year of service but retires a day before the increment becomes payable (i.e., June 30th or December 31st) cannot be denied the benefit of that increment for pension purposes

DoPT Office Memoranda dated October 14, 2024, and May 20, 2025, which clarified that notional increments are strictly restricted to employees retiring on those specific dates

The court also noted that state-specific judicial precedents, such as those from the Punjab and Haryana High Court regarding Haryana State Rules, do not automatically apply to Central Government employees

The Tribunal analyzed the timing of the applicant’s retirement against the specific legal eligibility criteria.

It observed that the applicant retired on May 31, 2014

The court reasoned that both the Supreme Court’s ruling in C.P. Mundinamani and the subsequent executive instructions from the DoPT and Railway Board specifically extend the benefit of a notional increment only to those who retire on the day immediately preceding the increment date—specifically June 30th or December 31st

Since the applicant retired in May, he did not fall within the specific temporal category of employees who "missed" the increment by a single day after completing a full year of service

The court further distinguished the applicant's cited case law (Suresh Kumar Singla), noting those decisions were based on specific Haryana State rules rather than the Fundamental Rules applicable to Central Government/Railway employees

The Tribunal found no illegality or infirmity in the Pension Payment Order (PPO) dated May 28, 2014

Consequently, the Original Application was dismissed, and all connected miscellaneous applications were disposed of