FIRDOUS AHMAD
SRINAGAR, Oct 3: In a landmark judgment likely to affect hundreds of teachers across Jammu and Kashmir, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) at Srinagar has declared that Rehbar-e-Taleem (ReT) teachers who joined service on honorarium before January 1, 2010 are entitled to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) even if their regularisation took place after that date.
The ruling came on a petition filed by 47 regularised ReT teachers whose salaries had been withheld following departmental directions to comply with the New Pension Scheme (NPS) introduced under SRO 400 of December 24, 2009.
Tribunal’s Findings
The single-member bench headed by D. S. Mahra (Judicial) made it clear that the five-year honorarium service of ReT teachers, as recognised by government orders, must be treated as qualifying service for pension. The tribunal held that forcing such employees into the NPS framework was not only beyond the intent of the law but also violative of their vested rights.
“Teachers who entered service before the cut-off date and whose pre-regularisation period has already been recognised for pensionary purposes cannot be deprived of OPS merely because their regularisation order was issued after 01.01.2010,” the bench observed.
Background of the Case
The controversy began after the Education Department implemented SRO 400, which brought government employees appointed on or after January 1, 2010 under the NPS. Acting upon this, the department issued a circular on March 24, 2011, directing Chief Education Officers to ensure that ReT teachers regularised after the cut-off obtained Permanent Retirement Account Numbers (PRAN). Non-compliance with this order led to withholding of salaries of the applicants.
The teachers, however, pointed out that their initial engagement dated back to 2005–2009 under the Rehbar-e-Taleem scheme, introduced through Government Order No. 396-Edu of 2000 and modified by Government Order No. 115-Edu of 2008. The latter order had expressly stated that five years of continuous service on honorarium would count towards pension if followed by regularisation. This arrangement, they added, was later reaffirmed by the state cabinet through Government Order No. 469-Edu of 2014.
Teachers’ Argument
The aggrieved applicants argued that pension constitutes a deferred payment for services rendered and is therefore a property right. They insisted that imposing NPS on them retrospectively amounted to infringement of constitutional guarantees, especially equality before law and protection of property.
They also stressed that they had been discharging duties identical to General Line Teachers after regularisation and thus could not be placed in a disadvantageous position merely on account of the date of regularisation.
Tribunal’s Observations
After considering the submissions, the tribunal emphasised that the cut-off date of January 1, 2010 applied exclusively to “new entrants” in government service and could not override the already accrued pensionary benefits of those engaged earlier.
“Any attempt to classify these teachers differently from their counterparts amounts to arbitrary action and creates a discriminatory category among employees who are otherwise similarly situated,” the order noted.
Directions Issued
In its verdict, the CAT:
Quashed all departmental communications and orders forcing pre-2010 appointees into the NPS.
Directed the immediate release of withheld salaries of the 47 applicants.
Ordered the government to implement the decision by issuing a reasoned and speaking order within two months of receiving the judgment.
Wider Implications
The tribunal’s order has not only granted relief to the petitioners but also set a precedent for other ReT teachers facing similar disputes across the Union Territory. With OPS benefits restored, these teachers stand to regain pension rights that had been under threat for more than a decade.
