Recruitment Process Initiated by Departmental Requisition Prior to NPS Notification Entitles Employees to Old Pension Scheme

The applicant was appointed as a Telephone Operator in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on 20.02.2006

The MCD initiated the recruitment process by sending a requisition for the posts to the Delhi Subordinate Service Selection Board (DSSSB) on 11.02.2002

However, the DSSSB issued the public advertisement for these posts on 30.04.2004

The applicant sought to be covered under the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) per the Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare (DoP&T) O.M. dated 03.03.2023, but the respondents rejected his representation on 19.10.2023

The respondents argued that since the advertisement was published after 22.12.2003 (the cutoff for the National Pension System/NPS), the applicant was ineligible for OPS

1. Whether the recruitment process is deemed to have commenced on the date of the departmental requisition (11.02.2002) or the date of the public advertisement (30.04.2004) for the purpose of granting benefits under the Old Pension Scheme

2. Whether the applicant is entitled to migrate from the National Pension System (NPS) to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) under the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972, pursuant to the DoP&T O.M. dated 03.03.2023

The Court applied Paragraph 4 of the DoP&T O.M. dated 03.03.2023, which allows a one-time option for employees to migrate to the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972, if they were appointed against posts advertised/notified for recruitment prior to the NPS notification dated 22.12.2003

The Tribunal further relied on its own precedent in Narender Kumar Yadav v. Union of India & Ors. (OA No. 3735/2018), which held that the recruitment process begins when the department requests the recruitment agency to initiate the process

This principle was affirmed by the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi in W.P.(C) No. 10544/2023

The Tribunal rejected the respondents' contention that the advertisement date (30.04.2004) should be the sole benchmark for eligibility. It observed that the MCD had formally initiated the recruitment by sending a requisition to the DSSSB on 11.02.2002, which preceded the NPS notification of 22.12.2003

The Tribunal reasoned that the matter is no longer res integra (an unsettled point of law), as prior judgments have established that the "initiation" of recruitment includes the requisition phase

Consequently, because the administrative process started in 2002, the applicant fell within the protective ambit of Para 4 of the 03.03.2023 O.M., regardless of the late date of the actual advertisement by the DSSSB

It held that the applicant is entitled to the Old Pension Scheme as the recruitment process commenced prior to 22.12.2003. The respondents were directed to grant the applicant the benefits of the OPS in accordance with the 03.03.2023 O.M. No order as to costs was made