Railway Worker Screened In 2003 Gets Old Pension After Court Order Delayed His Appointment To 2005: CAT Patna

In brief

The question

1. Whether the applicant was entitled to coverage under the Railway Services (Pension) Rules, 1993, despite his appointment after 1 January 2004, given that he had been screened before that date and his appointment was delayed by court proceedings.

The court held

The Tribunal held that the applicant was entitled to coverage under the Railway Services (Pension) Rules, 1993, with consequential benefits.

It also directed

It set aside the rejection order dated 13 July 2021 and allowed the Original Application, with no order as to costs.

01Facts

The applicant was among 67 persons approved by the Railway Board in 2001 for consideration for absorption from quasi-administrative offices.

p. 2

He was screened on 19 February 2003, but his appointment was not finalized before 1 January 2004.

pp. 2–4

The respondents attributed the delay to interim orders in O.A. No. 40/2002, which was dismissed in 2004; the applicant was appointed on 8 August 2005 and placed under the National Pension System (NPS).

pp. 2–4

His request to join the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), made under the 2020 instructions, was rejected on 13 July 2021.

pp. 2–4

During the present proceedings, he also relied on Railway Board letter RBE No. 41/2023, which adopted the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare’s 3 March 2023 memorandum.

p. 2, 7

The respondents maintained that he did not meet the applicable conditions, including the requirement concerning declaration of recruitment results before the cut-off date.

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02Issues

i.1. Whether the applicant was entitled to coverage under the Railway Services (Pension) Rules, 1993, despite his appointment after 1 January 2004, given that he had been screened before that date and his appointment was delayed by court proceedings.

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ii.2. Whether the rejection of his OPS request by the order dated 13 July 2021 was arbitrary and liable to be set aside.

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03Law Applied

The Tribunal considered Section 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985, under which the applicant invoked its jurisdiction, and the Railway Services (Pension) Rules, 1993, which provide the relevant pension framework.

pp. 1–2, 9

It applied the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare memoranda dated 17 February 2020 and 3 March 2023, as adopted by the Railway Board through RBE No. 28/2020 and RBE No. 41/2023, respectively.

p. 9

The Tribunal treated those instructions as permitting OPS coverage where recruitment had commenced before 1 January 2004 but appointment was delayed by administrative causes or court orders.

p. 9

The judgment also referred to O.A. No. 465/2021, which the respondents’ order of 14 October 2026 described as similar and affirmed by the Patna High Court.

p. 10

Provisions in the judgment · 1 · Linked ones open on LawLens

Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 Section 19

04Reasoning

The Tribunal found that the applicant’s inclusion in the Railway Board-approved group and his screening on 19 February 2003 established that his recruitment process had begun before the NPS cut-off date.

p. 9

It attributed the subsequent delay in finalizing his appointment to the interim orders in O.A. No. 40/2002.

p. 9

It also considered relevant that other candidates from the approved group had received OPS coverage and concluded that denying the same treatment to the applicant, whose appointment was delayed by the litigation, was discriminatory.

p. 9

On that basis, it held that the 2020 and 2023 instructions supported his claim, and that the 2021 rejection was contrary to those instructions and unsustainable.

pp. 9–10