The High Court of Telangana at Hyderabad Bench has dismissed a petition filed by ten ex-servicemen who retired from the Army and Air Force below Commissioned Officer rank, were re-employed as Social Security Assistants in the EPFO under the ex-servicemen quota and sought fixation of their initial civil pay by protecting the last pay drawn in the Defence Services.
The high Court held that for the ex-servicemen below Commissioned Officer rank who retired before 55, exclusion of pensionary benefits from initial pay fixation does not confer a right to last-drawn military pay. The Court clarified that ignoring pension and pensionary benefits during initial pay fixation does not automatically entitle the petitioners to their last-drawn Defence Services pay.
The governing instructions required the petitioners’ pay to be fixed at the entry pay of the re-employed post, as applicable to direct recruits appointed on or after 1 January 2006, not at their previous military pay, added the Court, while reiterating that last-drawn pay protection cannot be claimed without a specific provision. The Court also held that Article 14 does not envisage negative equality or require repetition of an unlawful benefit.
Briefly, the petitioners were ex-servicemen who retired from the Indian Army and Air Force before attaining 55 years of age and had held posts below Commissioned Officer rank. They were subsequently appointed as Social Security Assistants in the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) under the ex-servicemen quota. They sought fixation of their initial civil pay by protecting the last pay drawn in the Defence Services. After the Central Administrative Tribunal rejected their original application and review application, they approached the Telangana High Court.
The Division Bench comprising the Acting Chief Justice P. Sam Koshy and Justice Narsing Rao Nandikonda observed that ignoring the entire pension and pension equivalent of retirement benefits when fixing initial pay does not automatically entitle an ex-serviceman to protection of the last military pay. Under the applicable instructions, the petitioners’ initial pay was to be fixed at the entry pay of the re-employed post, as applicable to direct recruits appointed on or after 1 January 2006. The Court found that these instructions did not provide for protection of their last Defence Services pay.
The Court also rejected the claim for equal treatment based on pay protection allegedly granted to another employee. It noted that his pay fixation was governed by rules prevailing at a different time. In any event, a benefit granted to another employee cannot establish entitlement contrary to the applicable rules, and Article 14 does not require an illegality or irregularity to be repeated. The Court further held that the review application merely repeated earlier arguments and disclosed no error apparent on the face of the record.
