Overview
- A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and A G Masih on Monday, June 1, set aside Patna High Court judgments and restored tribunal orders that entitle a group of long‑serving Department of Posts casual labourers to pensionary benefits.
- The court directed the Union government to compute and disburse pension and other retiral dues within three months and ordered 6% per year interest on any delay from the date the amounts accrued.
- The ruling reads the Department of Posts’ 1991 Scheme and the 1992 circular as a progressive framework that gave temporary‑status casual workers pay and allowances linked to regular Group D scales, making them eligible for equivalent retiral benefits.
- The court held that pension is not a bounty but a form of property under Article 300A and invoked Directive Principles to say the State, as a model employer, cannot keep workers in precarious conditions through administrative inaction.
- The judgment follows an 18‑year fight by petitioners including a Bihar widow and may prompt the government to review similar cases where long‑served casual or temporary staff performed duties like permanent employees but were not formally regularised.