The Punjab and Haryana High Court has invalidated a circular issued by the Punjab government on December 22, 2022, which prohibited retired employees receiving provisional pensions from availing travel concessions and old age allowances while they were involved in ongoing departmental or judicial proceedings.<\/p>\n
Justice Harpreet Singh Brar granted a writ petition filed by Nalni Kant and several other retirees from the Punjab State Warehousing Corporation (PSWC), ruling that the Finance Department\u2019s circular was illegal, arbitrary, and in violation of constitutional rights. The court mandated that the authorities disburse all outstanding old age allowances and travel concessions to the petitioners, as well as to other similarly situated retirees, within a six-week timeframe. This ruling is applicable to all pensioners in similar circumstances, regardless of whether they have approached the court.<\/p>\n
The petitioners, who had retired in various managerial roles from PSWC, contested the 2022 circular after their retirement benefits were suspended. Since January 1, 1986, PSWC has operated a pension and gratuity scheme that aligns its employees\u2019 benefits with those of state government employees, including provisions for gratuity, leave travel concessions, and medical care.<\/p>\n
According to the current regulations, state pensioners are entitled to a travel concession equivalent to one month’s basic pension every two years, along with an old age allowance that increases from 5% at age 65 to 100% for individuals aged 100 and above. Rule 6.18 of the Punjab Civil Services Rules (CSR), Volume II, explicitly designates this as \u201cadditional pension.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, the 2022 circular stipulated that these benefits would be denied to retirees receiving provisional pensions while facing pending investigations, with payments only to be made upon their full exoneration.<\/p>\n
The petitioners\u2019 legal representatives, JP Rana and Sukhmandeep Singh, contended that the circular lacked any statutory foundation. They pointed out that while the Punjab CSR allows for the withholding of gratuity and leave encashment during ongoing proceedings, it does not provide for withholding travel concessions or old age allowances. They argued that administrative instructions cannot supersede statutory regulations and that denying these benefits infringes upon Articles 14, 16, and 300A of the Constitution, as pension is recognized as a valuable property right.<\/p>\n
Representatives for the Punjab government and PSWC defended the circular, asserting that PSWC employees adhere to state government policies. Nonetheless, they failed to present any statutory rule that would justify the withholding of these two specific benefits.<\/p>\n
In its ruling, the court emphasized that administrative or executive instructions cannot modify or negate statutory rules. It stated that individuals cannot be deprived of their retirement benefits without legal authority, as required by Article 300A of the Constitution.<\/p>\n
The court referenced previous Supreme Court rulings, including Dr. Hira Lal v. State of Bihar (2020) and a full bench decision in Dr. Ishar Singh v. State of Punjab (1994), which underscored the need for pension rules to be interpreted generously to safeguard retirees’ social security in old age.<\/p>\n
Justice Brar remarked that a provisional pension is paid at the full admissible amount and that old age allowances are integral to the pension. Therefore, withholding these allowances effectively diminishes the pension below the entitled amount without legal justification.<\/p>\n
The court annulled the December 22, 2022, circular and ordered the release of all outstanding old age allowances and travel concession dues within six weeks. It affirmed that the ruling extends to all similarly situated retirees of PSWC and potentially to other state entities governed by Punjab CSR rules.<\/p>\n
This decision clarifies that while the state may retain gratuity and leave encashment during ongoing investigations, it cannot impose similar restrictions on other pension benefits solely through executive orders.<\/p>\n
The ruling is expected to provide significant relief to numerous retired employees of the Punjab government and affiliated corporations who were denied these benefits due to pending inquiries or legal cases, reinforcing the principle that retirement benefits cannot be unjustly withheld without statutory support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has invalidated a circular issued by the Punjab government on December 22, 2022, which prohibited retired employees receiving provisional pensions from availing travel concessions and old age allowances while they were involved in ongoing departmental or judicial proceedings. Justice Harpreet Singh Brar granted a writ petition filed by Nalni […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3853,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[40,155],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-india","category-in-legal"],"yoast_head":"\n