The
Supreme Court has ruled that a retired government employee cannot be denied pensionary
benefits if their unauthorized absence was regularized as extraordinary leave,
ensuring continuity in service.
The Court
held that even if an employee was absent for an extended period, once their
service is regularized by treating the absence as extraordinary leave, it
cannot be considered a "break in service" to deny pension benefits.
Case Background
A bench
comprising Justices B.R. Gavai and Prashant Kumar Mishra heard the appeal of a
retired government employee who was prevented from signing the attendance
register and performing her duties, leading to her absence. Despite multiple
legal proceedings, no departmental inquiry was conducted against her.
Eventually, her service was regularized by treating her absence as
extraordinary leave.
The appellant
sought pension and retiral benefits, which were denied on the grounds that her
period of absence did not count as service for pension purposes. After adverse
rulings from the State Administrative Tribunal and the High Court, she
approached the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court's Ruling
Setting
aside the previous decisions, the Court, in a judgment authored by Justice
Mishra, emphasized that once the appellant’s absence was regularized as
extraordinary leave, it could not be considered a break in service to deny her
pension.
The Court
also noted that the respondent authorities failed to substantiate their claim
of unauthorized absence by conducting a departmental inquiry. Instead, they
attempted to shift the burden onto the appellant.
Key
Observations by the Court:
- The denial of pensionary
benefits must be based on a rule that explicitly permits such denial.
- If the government
regularized the service by treating the absence as extraordinary leave, it
could not later classify it as unauthorized leave for pension denial.
- The authorities could have
denied the pension only by proving unauthorized absence through a proper
departmental inquiry, which they failed to conduct.
Accordingly,
the Supreme Court allowed the appeal and directed the authorities to finalize the
appellant’s pension within three months.
Case
Title: Jaya
Bhattacharya vs. State of West Bengal & Ors.
