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PEPSU Road Transport Corporation, Patiala v. Amandeep Singh & Ors.

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 3842 of 2011)Decided 3 Jan 2017
Civil Appeal No. 3842 of 2011
Justice S.A. Bobde · Justice Ashok Bhushan

Background

Balwant Singh, a driver with PEPSU Road Transport Corporation, retired in 2000 without having opted into the Corporation's 1992 Pension, Gratuity and General Provident Fund Regulations, and he received his full Contributory Provident Fund (CPF) payout on retirement. He later sued, claiming he was also entitled to a pension and commuted pension on top of the CPF amount already paid. The trial court, the appellate court, and the Punjab and Haryana High Court all ruled in his favour, prompting the Corporation to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that an employee who never exercised the option to join the 1992 pension scheme, and who accepted and retained his CPF benefits after retirement without protest, cannot later claim pension benefits as well: that would amount to an impermissible double benefit. Relying on its own earlier ruling in PEPSU Road Transport Corporation vs. Mangal Singh, the Court found that personal service of the option notice was not required under the Regulations, and that the lower courts had wrongly held otherwise. The Court set aside the High Court, First Appellate Court, and Trial Court judgments and dismissed the original suit, leaving each side to bear its own costs.

Lesson Learnt

An employee who did not formally opt into a service-linked pension scheme, and who has already taken the alternative provident-fund benefit, cannot later claim the pension benefit as well: courts will not allow employees to claim both when the scheme rules required a choice between them.

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

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