Part-Time Haryana School Workers To Get OPS With Pre-Regularisation Service Counted, Subject To Verification: P&H HC

The petitioners had initially worked in Haryana Government schools on temporary or part-time basis and were later regularized.

They sought to have their service from initial engagement through regularization, together with subsequent regular service, counted for pensionary benefits and to be brought under the Old Pension Scheme (OPS).

The petitions were heard together; the State did not dispute that the prior service should be counted under the cited judgments, subject to verification of the petitioners’ particulars.

The Court recorded each petitioner’s initial engagement and regularization dates in the tables at paragraph 4.

The Court relied on Kesar Chand v. State of Haryana, 1988 (2) PLR 223; Harbans Lal v. State of Punjab, 2012 (3) SCT 362; Jeewan Lata v. State of Punjab, 2019 (4) SCT 271; Zile Singh v. State of Haryana, CWP-626-2015, upheld in LPA-426-2016; State of Haryana v. Jai Bhagwan, 2024 NCPHHC 095763; and the cited High Court decisions in Rajesh Kumar, Bimla Devi, Jagdish and Om Prakash.

The Court also relied on the Supreme Court’s decision in Punjab School Education Board v. Satnam Singh, Civil Appeal No. 6865 of 2022, 2026 INSC 965, which held, on the applicable facts and law, that pre-regularization contract, ad hoc or daily-wage service could count as qualifying service for pension; artificial or administrative breaks could be disregarded.

The governing principle applied was that continuous pre-regularization service followed by regularization is not to be excluded from qualifying service for pensionary benefits.

The record showed that the petitioners had initially been engaged in Government schools and were subsequently regularized under the applicable policies.

Applying the cited precedents, including Satnam Singh, the Court held that the respondents could not exclude the petitioners’ continuous pre-regularization service when calculating qualifying service.

Because the State accepted that the claimed benefit would follow if the petitioners’ dates and factual particulars were verified, the Court made the OPS entitlement subject to that verification.

Subject to verification of the engagement and regularization particulars, the petitioners were held entitled to OPS.

The respondents were directed to re-fix benefits and release consequential amounts and arrears within three months of receiving a certified copy of the order; amounts already contributed or paid under NPS are to be adjusted in accordance with law.