It states that pension cannot be refused simply because of late application or resignation
Police officers walk past the Supreme Court of Pakistan building, in Islamabad, Pakistan April 6, 2022. REUTERS
ISLAMABAD:
The Supreme Court has held that pension is neither a concession nor a charity but a constitutional and legal right of a government employee, which cannot be denied merely on the ground of late application or resignation.
According to the detailed judgment approved by the court and released for reporting, a three-member bench comprising Justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui, Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb set aside the decision of the Federal Service Tribunal dated July 3, 2024 in the case of Muhammad Usman vs. Federation of Pakistan.
The court noted that Muhammad Usman had completed over 20 years of service as a Senior Auditor (BS-11) in the Office of the Military Accountant General, Rawalpindi, thereby fulfilling the statutory pension requirements.
It further observed that after the 2001 amendment to the Civil Service Act, the length of pensionable service was reduced from 25 to 20 years, a condition already fulfilled by the petitioner.
The Supreme Court rejected the argument that the applicant was not entitled to a pension due to a 13-year delay in filing his application.
The judgment specifies that the right to a pension is acquired immediately after retirement or acceptance of resignation and cannot be extinguished solely because of a delay. He added that neither the doctrine of laches nor the law of limitation applies to pension claims.
The bench also criticized the erroneous interpretation of the RSE 418 regulation, clarifying that the regulation concerns the calculation of service and not the total loss of pension.
She considered that resignation, in itself, does not deprive an employee of his pension, especially when the required seniority has already been completed.
Stating that the court and department’s decisions were based on a misunderstanding of the law, the SC converted the petition into an appeal and allowed it, ordering the authorities to grant Usman full retirement benefits in accordance with the law.
Reiterating previous precedents, the court once again emphasized that pension is an acquired and protected right that cannot be taken away for administrative or technical reasons.
Last week, the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) upheld a series of judgments of the Lahore High Court (LHC) ordering the Employees’ Old Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) to provide monthly old age pension to workers who have completed more than 14 and a half years of insurable employment.
