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In Re Refixation of Pension Considering Service Period in District Judiciary and High Court

Writ Petition (Civil) · 2025 INSC 726Decided 19 May 2025
SMW(C) No.-000004 - 2024 (with connected writ petitions and diary matters)
Chief Justice B.R. Gavai · Justice Augustine George Masih

Background

This suo motu case, along with several connected writ petitions filed by retired High Court judges and the widow of one judge, raised a cluster of pension disputes: judges who entered the High Court from the District Judiciary were being denied full pension because their earlier service wasn't counted, some faced reduced pension due to a "break-in-service" gap between their district and High Court postings, and others were denied benefits because they had retired as "Additional Judges" rather than confirmed permanent judges.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court directed that all retired High Court judges must receive full pension - Rs. 15 lakh per year for a former Chief Justice and Rs. 13.5 lakh per year for other judges - on a "One Rank One Pension" principle, regardless of whether they came from the Bar or the District Judiciary, regardless of any gap in service between the two postings, and regardless of whether they retired as Additional or Permanent Judges. It also directed that family pension and gratuity be paid to widows/families of judges who die while in service even if the judge had not completed the minimum qualifying period, and ordered all arrears to be paid with 6% annual interest within six months.

Lesson Learnt

Retirement benefits for public servants (here, judges) should not be denied or reduced on technical or administrative grounds - such as which career path they took to the post or minor breaks in service - when they have genuinely rendered the underlying service; a uniform "One Rank One Pension" principle should govern such entitlements.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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