PU family pension regulations challenged in high court

The petition has been filed by Saroj Dumir,widow of late Dr V C Dumir,Veena Malik,widow of late Dr S K Malik,and Shantha Narayan,widow of late Dr S K Lakshmi Narayan,seeking the quashing of the above mentioned regulation and the notification to the extent of limiting/confining the grant of family pension only to the retiree,who was in receipt of it at the time of death.

“This is patently illegal,arbitrary unconstitutional and violative of the principles of natural justice,particularly in the light of the fact that the pension scheme was made applicable retrospectively to all the retired employees,irrespective of the date of retirement and as such,the action of the university depriving family pension to the widows of the deceased ex-employees is wholly unjust,improper,irrational and the classification between the alive and the deceased retired employees does not qualify the twin test reasonable classification,” reads the petition.

The petitioners,whose husbands had served the Panjab University,have also sought directions to the university to grant family pension to them and pay the arrears thereof within the stipulated time that might be fixed by the court.

They have also sought directions to allow them to opt for pension and deposit the amount of the university contributory provident fund,including its interest thereon as received by them from the university from being credited to the university pension fund.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice Jasbir Singh has issued notices to the Vice-Chancellor and the Registrar of PU for March 26,asking them to file their response to the points raised in the petition.