Part-time service cannot be counted for pensionary benefits under Tamil Nadu Pension Rules.

The respondent, N. Baskar, was a former employee who had served as a Part-Time Panchayat Clerk.

He filed a writ petition (W.P. No. 6504 of 2023) seeking to count 50% of his part-time service for the purpose of pensionary benefits.

The Writ Court, by an order dated 18.01.2024, granted this relief.

The State of Tamil Nadu preferred this intra-court appeal challenging that order, contending that part-time service cannot be regularized or counted for pension under the prevailing statutory rules.

1. Whether 50% of the service rendered as a Part-Time Panchayat Clerk can be counted for the purpose of calculating pensionary benefits under the Tamil Nadu Pension Rules, 1978.

2. Whether judicial precedents granting such benefits in the past constitute binding law even if they run counter to statutory rules and Full Bench decisions.

Rule 11 of the Tamil Nadu Pension Rules, 1978, which stipulates that 50% of temporary service may be counted only if the employment was in a "whole-time job" and not a "part-time job".

Legal principle established in the Full Bench judgment of P.L.S. Palaniappan, which held that Article 14 of the Constitution cannot be invoked to perpetuate illegality or compel a public authority to repeat an erroneous order.

Ratio of the Division Bench in W.A. No. 1569 of 2026 (Batch), which clarified that welfare provisions must operate within the framework of the Rules.

The Court reasoned that pension is a deferred portion of wages that exists strictly within the "contours of the scheme framed by the Government" under the 1978 Rules.

While Rule 11 is a welfare provision, its language is unambiguous in limiting the 50% credit to whole-time service.

The Court observed that many prior orders granting relief to part-time clerks were based on individual Government Orders or previous court directions rather than the actual law, creating a "spinning wheel of precedent" that diluted statutory rules.

Applying the "irresistible conclusion" from the regional Full Bench decisions, the Court held that any judgment running counter to Rule 11(2) and 11(4) is denuded of its status as a precedent.

The Writ Appeal was allowed, and the order of the Writ Court dated 18.01.2024 in W.P. No. 6504 of 2023 was set aside.

The Court directed that the benefit of counting 50% service is strictly reserved for those in whole-time employment as per the Tamil Nadu Pension Rules.

No costs were awarded.