Rehbar-e-Taleem teachers appointed prior to 2010 are entitled to pensionary benefits under the Old Pension Scheme.

The forty-seven applicants were appointed as Rehbar-e-Taleem (ReT) teachers between 2005 and 2008 under the ReT Scheme (Govt. Order No. 396-Edu of 2000)

Under this scheme, teachers served a five-year honorarium period before becoming eligible for regularization as General Line Teachers

The applicants were regularized between 2010 and 2011

Although their initial appointments predated the introduction of the New Pension Scheme (NPS)—which became effective on 01.01.2010 via SRO 400—the respondents placed the applicants under the NPS based on a 2011 departmental communication

The applicants approached the Tribunal seeking the benefits of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), arguing that their pre-regularization service should count toward qualifying service

1. Whether Rehbar-e-Taleem teachers appointed prior to the introduction of the New Pension Scheme (01.01.2010) but regularized after that date are entitled to pensionary benefits under the Old Pension Scheme (OPS)

2. Whether the applicants are entitled to have their service during the honorarium period counted as qualifying service for pension

The court relied on the precedent established in Mohd. Shafi Dar & Others vs. UT of J&K & Others (O.A. No. 1084/2020), which held that ReT teachers appointed before 01.01.2010 are entitled to OPS benefits even if regularized post-2010, and that pre-regularization service counts toward qualifying service

The court also referenced Government Order No. 396-Edu of 2000 and Government Order No. 115-Edu of 2008 regarding the ReT Scheme framework

Furthermore, the applicants invoked Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India to challenge the arbitrary and discriminatory denial of OPS benefits

The Tribunal did not engage in an exhaustive merit-based review of the individual service records but focused on the legal consistency of the applicants' claims with existing judicial precedents.

It noted that the departmental communication dated 24.03.2011, which the respondents used to mandate NPS for teachers regularized after 01.01.2010, had already been quashed by the Tribunal in the Mohd. Shafi Dar case

The Tribunal observed that if the applicants are indeed "similarly situated" to the petitioners in Shafi Dar, the denial of OPS would be legally untenable

Consequently, the Tribunal determined that the most efficient remedy was to compel the administrative authorities to re-evaluate the applicants' status in light of the Shafi Dar ruling

The respondents were ordered to consider and decide the applicants' claims specifically in light of the judgment in Mohd. Shafi Dar & Others (dated 25.09.2025) and pass a reasoned and speaking order within eight weeks

The Tribunal also allowed MA No. 1608/2025, permitting the filing of a joint application

No order was made as to costs