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Valsan P. v. The State of Kerala

Civil Appeal · 2021 INSC 656Decided 21 Oct 2021
Civil Appeal No. 6292 of 2021
Justice M.R. Shah · Justice A.S. Bopanna

Background

The appellant worked in the Central Government's Telecom Department for 10 years, then worked for about 3 years in a Kerala state-owned public sector undertaking (a non-pensionable job), before joining the State's Technical Education Department where he served until retirement. On retiring, he sought to count his earlier Central Government service towards his pension, but this required the roughly three-year gap to be "condoned." The Kerala Administrative Tribunal ruled in his favour, but the Kerala High Court reversed that, wrongly assuming he was trying to also count his non-pensionable PSU service.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court clarified that the appellant was not seeking to count his non-pensionable PSU years at all: he only wanted that gap excluded/condoned so his two genuinely pensionable spells of service (Central and State) could be joined together. Relying on a 2014 Kerala Government Order that specifically permitted condoning such "sandwiched" non-qualifying service, and finding that his claim was still pending when that Government Order came into force, the Court held the High Court had misunderstood the issue and wrongly denied him the benefit. It restored the Tribunal's order granting him the pension benefit.

Lesson Learnt

Government employees whose careers include a gap in a non-pensionable job between two pensionable postings should check whether the relevant government rules allow that gap to be "condoned" so their total pensionable service can be properly combined for pension purposes.

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

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