PANKAJ K. GUPTA (DEPUTY REGISTRAR) 20 April 2022

Consideration for old pension scheme as the same was adopted by autonomous body after my joining

I joined a State Govt. University as Class 1 officer in June 2006. At that time no New Pension Scheme was there. State Govt. informed the University in April 2007 about the New Pension Scheme w.e.f. 01.01.2006 for all recruits who are recruited on or after 01.01.2006 and the University adopted the same in June 2007 in its Executive Council w.e.f. 01.01.2006 which is a supreme body of the University. My queries are:

1. Can the University adopt any such scheme retrospectively?

2. At the time of joining, when NPS was not in existence, can it be applicable to me retrospectively?

3. Though I have filed a case in the High Court which is under process, what are the chances of getting the Old Pension Scheme based on my joining date and its adoption date by the University.

4. The vacancy for the same arose in 2004 and the advertisement for the same was released in 2004 and after that again in 2005. The interview was held in April 2006 and joining was in June 2006.

Kindly provide the advice on the matter and also provide any judgment or rule to be referred to in this case.

Thanks

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Divya Vijayan 20 April 2022

NPS is mandatorily applicable on Central Government employees except for the Armed Forces, recruited on or after 01.01. 2004. Additionally, all State Governments excluding West Bengal have also adopted NPS for their employees. In Union Of India And Anr. vs Association Of The Employees Of Indian Institute of Mass Communication on 31 October, 2019. The Hon‟ble Supreme Court after considering the facts and circumstances and the submissions made by the contesting parties, concluded that NWDA had framed its own regulations namely the CPF Rules, 1982 and the said Rules were duly approved by the Governing Body. As NWDA is an Autonomous Body under the Ministry of Water Resources and it has framed its own bye-laws governing the employees so the Court must adopt an attitude of total non-interference or minimum interference in the matter of interpretation of Rules framed by autonomous institutions as was held in the matter of Chairman and M.D Kerala SRTC vs. K.O. Varghese (2007) 8 SCC 231, hence, the Hon‟ble Supreme Court reached to a conclusion that as the Appellants were governed by the CPF Rules, 1982, so the OM applicable to Central Government employees regarding GPF-cum-Pension Scheme is not applicable to them.