Government employee gets court’s pension relief after his appointment delayed by 16 years

“The authorities are directed to consider the request of the petitioner to be appointed retrospectively from the year 2009, where the government has revised the compassionate appointment government order dated October 6, 2009, solely to allow the petitioner to claim pension and pension-related benefits, taking a sympathetic and lenient view to meet the ends of justice; otherwise, the very appointment granted to the petitioner will lose its significance,” the court said on July 15.

The court, however, noted that the petitioner was appointed on December 3, 2020. In view of Rule 13 (qualifying service begins upon joining duty) of the A P Revised Pension Rules, 1980, the petitioner cannot plead to be appointed retrospectively from the date of making the application to appoint him on compassionate grounds.

Compassionate appointment delayed by authorities

The petitioner filed an application on August 12, 2004, to appoint him on compassionate grounds, following the death of his father, who worked as a lab assistant in a sanctioned aided post and who died in harness on July 8, 2004.

Justice Tarlada Rajasekhar Rao heard the matter on July 15.

After the petitioner’s father died, the aided college initiated a proposal for a compassionate appointment. Following verification and recommendations by the deputy and district educational officers, the proposal was forwarded through the regional joint director and commissioner of education to the government for approval.

However, the government, through a memo dated October 18, 2006, rejected the proposals pursuant to the government order dated October 20, 2004, stating that the case did not merit consideration, and returned the proposals to the regional joint director of school education, who then redirected them to the district educational officer.

The petitioner’s appointment on compassionate grounds was not considered due to the ban imposed by the government, and the government order dated February 1, 1994, only provides compassionate appointments in government offices, not aided institutions.

The petitioner’s father served in an aided institution. Though his compassionate appointment proposal was initiated in 2004, prolonged administrative delays led to his appointment only in December 2020. He argued that had authorities acted promptly, he would have been covered under the old pension scheme instead of the contributory pension regime.

Government ban caused appointment delay: Order

• It is pertinent to state that the government order dated February 1, 1994, was in existence at the relevant point of time.
• As per the said government order, no children of the deceased employee who are working in the aided institutions are entitled to be appointed on compassionate grounds in the aided institutions.
• The government issued a government order dated October 6, 2009, deciding to revive the earlier memo dated October 10, 2004, and to grant permission to the employees who are working in the aided institution, allowing compassionate appointments in aided schools; however, the incumbent cannot be appointed until he meets the eligibility criteria.
• The authorities have recommended a compassionate appointment, as there was a ban on compassionate appointments in the year 2004; the petitioner was not given a compassionate appointment.
• The respondents have not extracted any work from the petitioner to seek a direction from this court to consider his case from the date of filing of the application, and the respondents have failed to dispose of the writ petition filed seeking his appointment on compassionate grounds.

Final order

The court directed the authorities to grant the petitioner a notional appointment from the date his compassionate appointment ought to have been considered in 2004 and extend all consequential service benefits, including eligibility under the old pension scheme, if otherwise admissible. However, the court clarified that the petitioner would not be entitled to back wages for the intervening period.