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M.L. Patil (Dead) Through LRs vs The State of Goa

Civil Appeal · 2022 INSC 622Decided 20 May 2022
Civil Appeal No. 4100 of 2022
M.R. Shah · B.V. Nagarathna

Background

The appellant had been superannuated/retired by the Goa Government at age 58, though he contended the correct retirement age was 60. The Bombay High Court (Goa Bench) agreed that the retirement age was indeed 60 and that retiring him at 58 was illegal, but because he had approached the Court belatedly, it denied him back wages for the two extra years and also ruled he would get pension at revised rates only from 1 January 2020, with no arrears of pension. The appellant challenged only the denial of pension arrears and the delayed start date for revised pension, not the denial of back wages.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court agreed that denying back wages for the two "extra" years was justified given the delay in approaching the court, but held there was no justification for denying pension arrears, since pension (unlike back wages for actual service) is a continuous cause of action tied to the correct retirement age. The Court held that once it was settled that the retirement age was 60, the appellant was entitled to pension at revised rates from the date he would have turned 60, with all consequential arrears. The High Court's order was accordingly modified only to this extent, and the appeal was partly allowed with arrears to be paid within four weeks, with no order as to costs.

Lesson Learnt

A delay in approaching the court can validly cost a wrongly-retired employee the back wages for the extra years they would have worked, but pension entitlement, being a continuing right, is treated differently and cannot be denied or postponed once the correct retirement age is judicially established.

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

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