Can a govt employee switch pension scheme after accepting retirement benefits? SC clarifies

A retired government employee cannot seek to the benefits of a pension scheme different from the one under which they were covered throughout their service and received retirement benefits, the Supreme Court said on Thursday.

The ruling came in a case involving a retired professor of the National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD) and his claim for coverage under the General Provident Fund-cum-Pension Scheme (GPF) instead of the Central Pension Fund Scheme (CPF), according to an Upstox report.

The dispute centred on the terms of his regularisation and whether he could seek GPF coverage after being treated as a CPF beneficiary throughout his service. The court ended up rejecting his plea, holding that his acceptance of CPF retiral benefits prevented him from subsequently challenging those terms.

The petitioner, Chandra, joined the institute as a contractual Research Associate on November 12, 1984 and was covered by the CPF Scheme under an office order issued the following day. His services were regularised with effect from November 7, 1985, the news report stated.

Over the following years, he was appointed as the Assistant Director on March 9, 1992 on a regular basis, as Deputy Director on August 10, 1999 on a contractual basis, and as Professor on May 1, 2007, again on a contractual basis.

His services as a Professor were regularised through an office order dated May 4, 2012. The order stated that the regularisation would take effect from the date of the order itself, and that the petitioner's services would continue to be governed by the existing CPF Scheme.

The services of Chandra's colleague, Shyam Sunder Prasad Sharma, were regularised on the same date on identical terms.

Chandra retired from service on January 31, 2017, and received his retiral benefits on February 14, 2017, including both NIRD’s and his own contributions to the CPF. After retirement , he approached the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), challenging his continued coverage under the CPF Scheme and arguing that he should have been covered under the GPF Scheme under the NIRD Rules, 2011 and Service Bye-laws.

He retired from service on January 31, 2017, and received his retiral benefits on February 14, 2017, including both NIRD's and his own contributions to the CPF. After retirement, however, he approached the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), challenging his continued coverage under the CPF Scheme and arguing that he should have been covered under the GPF Scheme as per the NIRD Rules, 2011 and the institute's Service Bye-laws.

The CAT, in its July 15, 2019 judgment, ruled in Chandra’s favour and directed NIRD to allow him to join the GPF Scheme from the date he became eligible. The tribunal relied on a previous case involving the petitioner's colleague Sharma, whose services had also been regularised on May 4, 2012.

However, the Supreme Court had already reversed the Sharma decision.