Central Administrative Tribunal - Jabalpur
Anant Narayan Bhatt vs Western Railway on 24 March, 2025
1 O.A.No.201/723/2022
Reserved
CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL, JABALPUR BENCH
CIRCUIT SITTINGS : INDORE
Original Application No.201/723/2022
Jabalpur, this Monday, the 24th day of March, 2025
HON'BLE SHRI JUSTICE AKHIL KUMAR SRIVASTAVA, JUDICIAL MEMBER
HON'BLE SMT. MALLIKA ARYA, ADMINISTRATIVE MEMBER
1. Anant Narayan Bhatt S/o Mohanlal Bhatt Age 90 Years Retired
Assistant Personnel Officer. 35 Old Mitra Niwas Cokony Opposite
Gita Mandir Ratlam (M.P.) 457001
2. Vinod Singh Chandrawat S/o Late Devi Singh Chandrawat Age
90 years Retired Senior Personnel Office Western Railway TIT
Road Ratlam (M.P.) 45700
3. Hiralal Mehta S/o Gadavchand Mehta Age 90 Years Retired
Assistant Commercial Manager Western Railway 136 Usha Nagar
Extension Indore (M.P.) 45200
4. Narayan Prashad Shukla S/o Sunderlal Shukla Age 89 Year
Retired Assistant Operating Manager Western Railway 117, Radio
Colony Indore (M.P.) 45200
5 Chhotelal S/o Mohan Singh Bhargu Age 88 Years Retired
Assistant Operating Manger Western Railway MIG 27 Devra Dev
Narayan Nagar Ratlam (M.P.) 45 7001 -Applicants
(By Advocate -Shri Prasanna J. Mehta along with C.P. Laskari)
Versus
Union of India & others Represented by
1. General Manager, Western Railway Head Quarter Office,
Churchgate, Mumbai 400020
2. Divisional Rail Manager, Western Railway, Divisional Office, Do
Batti, Ratlam 457001 - Respondents
(By Advocate -Ms. Seema Sharma)
(Date of reserving the order:-07.02.2025)
Digitally signed
by KARUNA Page 1 of 10
GUPTA
Date:
2025.03.25
12:57:14+05'30'
2 O.A.No.201/723/2022
ORDER
By Justice Akhil Kumar Srivastava, JM;
By way of this Original Application, applicants have sought for direction to respondents to extend the benefit of enhanced pension/family pension to them from the date of commencement 80, 85, 90, 95 and 100 years and arrears of difference due to enhance pension may also be paid. Further they have also prayed to issue revised PPO.
2. The facts of the case are that all the applicants are retired from service in various years on various dates of their superannuation and they have been paid pension and all settlement dues on the basis of last pay drawn on the date of retirement. They have been paid enhanced pension on completion of age of 80 years whereas it should have been from the date of commencement of age 80, 85, 90, 95 and 100 years which resulted in less payment of one year 20% enhanced pension. Applicants have relied upon the judgment passed by Hon'ble High Court of Gauhati in Writ Petition No.4224 of 2016 decided on 15.03.2018. Government approached Hon'ble Supreme court in SLP No.18133 of 2019 the same was dismissed on 08.07.2019. Thus, the law declared by Hon'ble High Court of Gauhati attains finality and Digitally signed by KARUNA Page 2 of 10 GUPTA Date: 2025.03.25 12:57:14+05'30' 3 O.A.No.201/723/2022 applicants are claiming relief on the basis of this judgment. Hence this Original Application.
3. Respondents in their reply have submitted that as per Railway pension Rule 51 of Rules 1993 of chapter V-A superannuation pensions shall be granted to a railway servant who is retired on his attaining the age of compulsory retirement. Superannuation Pension means the Pension granted to a Railway Servant who retires on attaining the age of 60 years. In the aforesaid rules the expression of "attaining age on 60 years" means on completion age of 60 years. Similarly there is a provision of granting additional pension to retired railway servant on attaining age of 80 years under Railway pension Rule (2A) of Rule 69 (Annexure R/2) which says that in addition to pension admissible in accordance with the provisions, after completion of eighty years of age and above, the additional pension shall be payable to a retired railway servant in the following manner, namely:-
S.No. Age of Pensioner Additional Pension (1) (2) (3)
1. From 80 years to less than 85 20 per cent of basic years pension
2. From 85 years to less than 90 30 per cent of basic years pension
3. From 90 years to less than 95 40 per cent of basic years pension Digitally signed by KARUNA Page 3 of 10 GUPTA Date: 2025.03.25 12:57:14+05'30' 4 O.A.No.201/723/2022
4. From 95 years to less than 50 per cent of basic 100 years pension
5. 100 years or more 100 years of basic pension.
3.1 Further it is submitted that the additional pension shall be payable to a retired railway servant from the age 80,85, 90, 95 and 100 years does not mean that additional pension would be admissible from the date of entering in 80, 85, 90, 95 and 100 years of age. This rule exclude 80th year from the purview of age that means after completion of 80 years of age. Further the judgment of Virendra Dutta Gyani (supra) is not identical the facts of the case are different from this case.
4. Applicants have filed rejoinder to the reply filed by the respondents have reiterated the averments made in the Original Application.
5. Heard the learned counsel for both the parties and perused pleadings and documents annexed therewith.
6. Learned counsel for the applicants submitted that the issue regarding entitlement of additional quantum of pension @ 20% of basic pension, has already been adjudicated upon by the Hon'ble Gauhati High Court in WP(C) 4224/2016, decided on 15.03.2018 in the case of Virendra Dutt Gyani Digitally signed by KARUNA Page 4 of 10 GUPTA Date: 2025.03.25 12:57:14+05'30' 5 O.A.No.201/723/2022 vs. The Union of India and others and the same has attained finality as the Special Leave Petition (Civil) Diary No.18133/2019 dated 08.07.2019, filed before the Hon'ble Supreme Court has also been decided. Learned counsel for the applicants has also cited the judgment passed by the Hon'ble High Court of Madhya Pradesh, Jabalpur in Writ Petition No.13291/2020 & Writ Petition No.15461/2020, decided on 03.12.2020, wherein the judgment passed in the case of Virendra Dutt Gyani (supra) has been dealt with by the Hon'ble High Court of Madhya Pradesh
7. It is true that the decision in Virendra Dutt Gyani, (supra), stands confirmed by the Supreme Court in the SLP. All the same, as rightly pointed out by the learned counsel for respondents, such a decision was rendered in the background of the High Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, on interpretation of the provisions in Section 17(B) of the Act. But after the said decision, it has become clear that the Ministry of Law and Justice has issued an explanation to Section 17(B) of the Act has been incorporated by way of amendment. It is true that in the original Section, after Section 17(B), it was stated that a retired Judge or a family pensioner is entitled to get 20% of Digitally signed by KARUNA Page 5 of 10 GUPTA Date: 2025.03.25 12:57:14+05'30' 6 O.A.No.201/723/2022 enhancement of basic pension of family pension from 80 years to less than 85 years. On interpretation of the provision a Division Bench of the Gauhati High Court held that, that has to be interpreted as the date from which he enters 80th year and that he need not complete 80th year. In other words, if he completes 79 years and enters 80th year of age, from that day onwards he is entitled to get 20% enhancement in pension. As rightly pointed out by the respondents, such a decision has been rendered in the context of Section 17(B) of the High Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1954. Now by notification dated 18.12.2021, an explanation has been added to Section 17(B), which reads thus:
"Explanation: --For the removal of doubts, it is hereby clarified that any entitlement for additional quantum of pension or family pension shall be, and shall be deemed always to have been, from the first day of the month in which the pensioner or family pensioner completes the age specified in the first column of the scale."
That means, such an enhancement of 20%, 30% etc. will be available only if the retired Judge attains 80 years or 85 years etc., as the case may be. In other words, the decision in Virendra Dutt Gyani case stands nullified or set at naught Digitally signed by KARUNA Page 6 of 10 GUPTA Date: 2025.03.25 12:57:14+05'30' 7 O.A.No.201/723/2022 by the amendment brought to Section 17B by way of explanation.
8. As rightly argued, the decision in Virendra Dutt Gyani has been rendered in the context of Section 17B of the High Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1954, whereas the applicants are governed by the Railway Services (Pension) Rules and the provisions of the High Court Judges Act are not applicable to them.
9. Even otherwise, documents produced by the respondents clearly indicate that the provisions in Railway Services (Pension) Rules and the clarificatory office memoranda clearly indicate that the applicants are entitled to get enhancement of 20%, 30% etc. only on completing the age of 80 years, 85 years etc. In this connection, it is very important to note that the decision in Virendra Dutt Gyani was rendered by the Gauhati High Court on 15.03.2018 and the Supreme Court had dismissed the SLP on 08.07.2019. We have already observed that those decisions or the context in which the said decisions were rendered are not applicable to the applicants who are governed either by the CCS (Pension) Rules or by the Railway Services (Pension) Rules.
Digitally signedby KARUNA Page 7 of 10 GUPTA Date: 2025.03.25 12:57:14+05'30' 8 O.A.No.201/723/2022
10. As rightly pointed out by the respondents, Rule 69 (2A) of the Railway Services (Pension) Rules also is very important, which reads thus:
"(2A) In addition to pension admissible in accordance with the provisions of sub rule (2), after completion of eighty years of age and above, the additional pension shall be payable to a retired railway servant in the following manner, namely:-
S.No. Age of Pensioner Additional Pension (1) (2) (3)
1. From 80 years to less than 20 per cent of basic 85 years pension
2. From 85 years to less than 30 per cent of basic 90 years pension
3. From 90 years to less than 40 per cent of basic 95 years pension
4. From 95 years to less than 50 per cent of basic 100 years pension
5. 100 years or more 100 years of basic pension.
11. With regard to the points raised in respect of additional pension/family pension, a clarification, dated 03.10.2008, has been issued by the DoP&PW which has been adopted by Railway Board vide Circular dated 08.10.2008 reads as under:
"The additional quantum of pension/family pension, on attaining the age of 80 years and above, would be admissible from the 1st day of the month in which his date of birth falls. For example, if a pensioner/family pensioner completes age of 80 years in the month of August, 2008, he will be entitled to additional pension/family pension w.e.f. 01.08.2008. Those Digitally signed by KARUNA Page 8 of 10 GUPTA Date: 2025.03.25 12:57:14+05'30' 9 O.A.No.201/723/2022 pensioners/family pensioners whose date of birth is 1st August, will also be entitled to additional pension/family pension w.e.f. 01.08.2008 on attaining the age of 80 years and above."
Thus, it is clear that as per the provisions in Railway Services (Pension) Rules and the clarificatory OM clearly indicate that the applicants are entitled to get additional quantum of pension only from the 1st day of the month in which date of birth falls, only on completion of the age of 80 years, and not in the beginning of the 80th year, as claimed by them.
12. Coming to the decisions of the Hon'ble High Court of Guwahati and the Hon'ble Apex Court, relied upon by the applicant, we are of the view that the same are not applicable to the case of the applicants who is governed by the Railway Services (Pension) Rules. Whereas, the decision rendered by the Hon'ble High Court is with reference to Section 17B of the High Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1954 and the provisions of the High Court Judges Act, which are not applicable to them.
13. Thus in view of the Rule position and the clarificatory memoranda issued in respect of the additional quantum pension and also the judgment of the Hon'ble Gauwhati High Court as well as the Hon'ble Apex Court, rendered a unequivocal finding that that it is not the commencement of Digitally signed by KARUNA Page 9 of 10 GUPTA Date: 2025.03.25 12:57:14+05'30' 10 O.A.No.201/723/2022 the year, that is important, but attaining the age of 80 years, 85 years etc. as the case may be, for getting additional quantum pension as provided in the Rules and the Office Memoranda.
14. In the result, the applicants have not made out a case for the relief sought by them. Hence, the OA is liable to be dismissed and it is accordingly dismissed. No order as to costs.
(Mallika Arya) (Akhil Kumar Srivastava) Administrative Member Judicial Member kg/-
Digitally signed by KARUNA Page 10 of 10 GUPTA Date: 2025.03.25 12:57:14+05'30'