HC Rejects Haryana Employees' Plea Against Cut-Off Date for Old Pension Scheme

Appearing for the respondents, counsel defended the cut-off date as a policy decision and argued that courts should not interfere in financial and policy matters of the government. File Photo.

HC Rejects Haryana Employees’ Plea Against Cut-Off Date for Old Pension Scheme

On Tuesday, the Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed the petition filed by several Haryana police department employees against the cut-off date fixed for coverage under the old pension scheme (OPS). The petitioners had sought to set aside a May 8, 2023, government notification to the extent it fixed October 28, 2005, as the cut-off date instead of August 18, 2008, for OPS applicability.

According to employees, they had applied for the posts in May 2006 and were appointed in 2007, contending that the old pension scheme should apply to them, as the New Pension Scheme (NPS) came into force only on August 18, 2008, the petitioners submitted before the court.

According to the state government, the notification in question added a proviso to the Punjab Civil Services Rules, also applicable in Haryana, which stated that government employees appointed on or after January 1, 2006, would be governed by the New Defined Contribution Pension Scheme.

Appearing for the respondents, counsel defended the cut-off date as a policy decision and argued that courts should not interfere in financial and policy matters of the government.

Justice Jagmohan Bansal observed that shifting the cut-off date to August 2008 would result in an additional financial burden on the state exchequer and emphasised that courts must exercise restraint while interfering in fiscal policy matters.

The court further noted that the petitioners were aware at the time of joining service that the old pension scheme was not applicable to appointments made from January 1, 2006, onwards. It also observed that the employees had been contributing to the NPS for nearly two decades and held that they had no vested or fundamental right to claim coverage under the old pension scheme.

Consequently, the petitions were dismissed.

Source: The Tribune