Staff Reporter
Guwahati: The Gauhati High Court has held that all the pensioners who retired between January 1, 2006, and March 31, 2009, and those who retired after March 31, 2009, formed one class, and are entitled to revision of their pensions in terms of the recommendation of the Assam Pay Commission, 2008.
The HC passed the judgement based on the order by a single judge in the All Manipur Pensioners Association vs. State of Manipur case reported in (2020) 14 SCC 625. In this case also, the classification as aforesaid sought to be made by the state was stated to have no nexus with the object and purpose of the grant of the benefit of the revised pension. The actions of the Manipur authorities were rightly held by the Single Judge to be unreasonable, arbitrary, discriminatory and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India.
The bench of Chief Justice Ashutosh Kumar and Justice Arun Dev Choudhury was hearing an intra-court appeal (WA/418/2023) filed assailing the judgement and order passed in WP(C) No.61/2011. By way of the aforesaid writ petition, a challenge was laid to the decision of the Government of Assam not to give benefits of arrears of pension/Death-Cum Retirement Gratuity, etc. arising out of the recommendation of the Assam Pay Commission, 2008, to the pensioners who retired from service during the period in between January 1, 2006, and March 31, 2009, on the grounds of financial stringency and instead to give them notional benefits, despite acceptance and implementation of the Assam Pay Commission, 2008, with effect from January 1, 2006.
In that writ petition, the Single Judge, relying upon an SC judgement, held that such classification was not permissible in the case of pensioners, who formed a class in themselves, especially when the recommendations were implemented with effect from January 1, 2006. For employees who would have retired prior to January 1, 2006, there would naturally be no benefit of the pay hike; still, persons retiring between January 1, 2006, and March 31, 2009, could not have been denied the benefit of the Pay Commission recommendation of higher salary only for financial stringency.
The State of Assam withdrew that appeal to approach the Single Judge in review, the petition for which, however, was dismissed on the ground that there was no error apparent on the face of the record.
Advocate Borpujari held that generally the state has the power to fix a cut-off date for extending pensionary benefits. However, it is equally well settled that if the cut-off date is arbitrary, discriminatory or violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India, a writ court can strike it down.
The Apex Court had ruled that when all the retirees formed one homogenous class, the benefits must be extended equally. In the case in hand, there is no dispute at the bar that the pensioners in question retired between January 1, 2006, and March 31, 2009. There is also no dispute in the present case that the recommendation of the Assam Pay Commission, 2008, was accepted and implemented with effect from January 1, 2006. Given this position, there is no valid justification for creating two classes of pensioners solely to grant a revised pension.
The HC, therefore, ruled that all these pensioners formed one class and are entitled to revision of their pensions in terms of the recommendation of the Assam Pay Commission, 2008, while dismissing the appeal.
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