The Punjab and Haryana High Court has granted relief to part-time employees in Haryana, ruling that continuous part-time, daily-wage, or ad-hoc service rendered prior to regularization shall be considered as qualifying service for pension purposes. The court clarified that service performed before a regular appointment cannot be excluded from the calculation of pension.
Allowing the petition filed by Bimla Devi and others, Justice Harpreet Singh Brar directed the state government to include the petitioners’ service—from their initial appointment up to the date of their regularization—for the purpose of calculating pension and other retirement benefits. The court further ordered that they be granted the benefits of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) following the verification of documents pertaining to their initial appointments and subsequent regularization.
The petitioners were appointed on a part-time basis in various government schools in Hisar district between 1990 and 2002. Specifically, Bimla Devi was appointed on October 11, 2002; Kalawati Devi on September 24, 2002; another Bimla Devi on August 21, 1990; and Murti Devi on September 1, 2002.
The late husband of the petitioner Kavita was appointed on September 18, 2002. The services of these employees were regularized between 2014 and 2020. Kavita is entitled to the family pension of her late husband.
During the proceedings, the state government acknowledged that the dates of initial appointment and regularization must be verified through official documentation. It also conceded that, in accordance with relevant judicial precedents, prior service should be included in the calculation of pension.
The High Court cited several judgments, including the Supreme Court’s ruling in the case of *Punjab School Education Board vs. Satnam Singh*. The court observed that a pension is a reward for an employee’s years of service, not an *ex-gratia* payment. It further held that it is unjust to exclude an employee’s prior service—rendered continuously over a long period—from pension calculations solely on technical grounds following their regularization. As per the order, the service period from the date of initial appointment up to the date of regularization will be combined with the period of regular service for the purpose of recalculating pension and other retirement benefits. The resulting benefits must be disbursed within three months of receiving the certified order. This relief shall be subject to the verification of the dates of appointment and regularization. Any amounts already deposited or paid under the New Pension Scheme will be adjusted in accordance with the applicable rules.
