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| HC denies pensionary benefits to BSF personnel who retired before completion of 20 years of services | | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Aug 18: The High Court has held that a person who voluntarily resigns and renders service of 15 years five months and three days, is not entitled to any pensionary benefit.
This judgment was delivered by Justice Sanjeev Kumar in a petition filed by Mohammad Hafiz Khan seeking direction to respondents to fix and release pension in his favour retrospectively with effect from the date the petitioner was discharged from service i.e. 01.09.1983 and also to pay him the compensation for wrongfully withholding his pension.
The petitioner was appointed as Constable in the Border Security Force (BSF) on 28-2-1968. While the petitioner was posted in 23rd Bn of the BSF he tendered his resignation and the same was accepted with effect from 31-8-1983. Since the petitioner had not served for the period qualifying for pension in terms of Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972 [CCS(Pension) Rules] read with Rule 19 of the Border Security Force Rules, 1969 (BSF Rules), as such, no pensionary benefits in his favour were sanctioned.
The petitioner had challenged acceptance of his resignation in a civil suit filed in the Court of Senior Subordinate Judge, Jalandhar on the ground that the resignation submitted by him was not voluntary. The suit was dismissed on 30-3-1987 and the appeal preferred by the petitioner in the Court of Additional District Judge, Jalandhar was also dismissed on 8-8.1989. The petitioner also filed a writ petition registered as OWP No.325/1998 before the High Court for release of pensionary benefits for having rendered 15 years and 5 months of service in the BSF.
Justice Sanjeev Kumar after hearing both the sides observed that a bare reading of Rule 19 of the BSF Rules would make it clear that though a member of the Force will not have right to resign without the prior permission of the prescribed authority, yet the prescribed authority may permit a member of the BSF to resign in certain special circumstances as enumerated under Rule 19. As is evident from the reading of Rule 19, the Rule in itself does create any right to pension and the same is regulated by CCS (Pension) Rules.
The CCS (Pension) Rules clearly provide that an employee to be eligible to claim pension must have completed the qualifying service of 20 years. Admittedly, the petitioner did not have requisite qualifying service to his credit and was, therefore, rightly not held entitled to the pensionary benefits by the respondents. With these observations High Court dismissed the petition. |
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