JANAK NARENDRA Vs. STATE OF HARYANA AND OTHERS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This order shall disposed of LPA Nos. 469 of 2003 and 138 of 2005, which have been filed under Clause X of the Letters Patent, challenging order dated 4.7.2003 rendered by the Learned Single Judge dismissing CWP No. 1618 of 2000 filed by the petitioner-appellants.

(2.) The petitioner-appellants challenged Rule 1(2) of the Haryana Affiliated Colleges (Pension and Contributory Provident Fund) Rules, 1999 (for brevity, 'the Rules') to the extent it provides the enforcement of the Rules with effect from 11.5.1998. The claim of the petitioner-applicant is that they are entitled to the benefit of the Rules as they have retired on or after 1.4.1995 from which date pension is made available to employees of Kurukshetra University and Maharshi Dayanand University, who were holding non-pensionable posts till 1997-98.

(3.) The learned Single Judge has examined two questions of law - (i) whether the Government could introduce the pension scheme with a cut off date having regard to financial liability; and (ii) whether the said decision was arbitrary. It has been concluded by the learned Single Judge that those employees who were earlier governed by the Contributory Provident Fund Scheme and already retired before introduction of the new pension scheme, have no vested right to claim the benefits of pension scheme. It has also been held that any relevant cut-off date could be fixed for applicability of the Scheme and it would not amount to discrimination merely because some of the employees who have already retired from service have been benefited. The views expressed by the learned Single Judge in the concluding para of the judgment reads as under :-