Retired Forest Daily Wager Wins Old Pension As Gujarat HC Says Sundays And Holidays Count Toward 240-Day Test Under 1988 GR

The petitioner joined the Forest Department as a daily wager on 1 December 1980 and superannuated on 30 July 2014.

Although he had been granted benefits under the Government Resolutions dated 17 October 1988 and 15 September 2014, he was not granted old-pension benefits. He sought reconsideration of his service for the 240-days-per-year requirement, including Sundays and public holidays.

On 5 September 2024, the Court directed the State to recalculate his attendance on that basis; the State’s affidavit recorded 20 years of service and completion of ten years’ 240-day service in 1993–94.

Section 25-B of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 governs continuous service and the deemed-service calculation based on 240 days; the Court applied Workmen of American Express International Banking Corporation v. Management of American Express International Banking Corporation, (1985) 4 SCC 71, for the principle that “actually worked” includes days of employment for which wages are payable, including Sundays and paid holidays.

The Court also applied the Government Resolutions dated 17 October 1988 and 15 September 2014, as interpreted in State of Gujarat v. PWD Employees Union, (2013) 12 SCC 417, and State of Gujarat v. PWD and Forest Employees Union, (2019) 15 SCC 248: only years in which the worker completed 240 days count toward the relevant service benefits.

It relied on the Gujarat Division Bench decisions in Chhaganbhai Ranchhodbhai Rathod v. Deputy Executive Engineer and Executive Engineer v. Dhirabhai Bhurabhai Pagi for applying the inclusion of Sundays and public holidays to daily wagers claiming benefits under the 1988 Resolution.

The Court held that the 1988 Resolution does not prescribe a separate method for calculating 240 days. The method established under American Express therefore applies when assessing eligibility under that Resolution, including for daily wagers and in the first year of service.

The State’s reliance on Ranjit Natvarlal Chauhan v. Morbi Nagar Palika did not displace the earlier Gujarat Division Bench authority or the subsequent decisions affirming that Sundays and public holidays are included in the calculation.

Applying that approach to the attendance sheet filed by the State, the Court found that the petitioner had completed more than ten years of 240-day service by 31 March 2005, satisfying the stated requirement for old-pension benefits.

It allowed the petition and directed the respondents to revise the benefits under the Resolutions dated 17 October 1988 and 15 September 2014, grant old pension and the Seventh Pay Commission benefits with effect from 1 January 2016, and calculate and disburse the consequential benefits, including arrears, within 60 days of uploading the judgment.