K.L. RATHEE versus UNION OF INDIA AND ORS.

Citation: [1997] SUPP. 1 S.C.R. 426 · Decided: 07-07-1997 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: S.C. AGRAWAL · Disposal: Dismissed

cites 2 · see the full citation network in Lexace

Judgment (excerpt)

A 
K.L. RATHEE 
v. 
UNION OF INDIA AND ORS. 
JULY 7, 1997 
B 
[S.C. AGRAWAL AND S.C. SEN, JJ.] 
Service Law-<:CS(Pension) Rules, 1972-Rule ~Liberalised Pension 
Fonnula, 1979-Applicability of-Pension was to be calculated on the basis 
of average salary drawn over a period of last ten months-Applicability of the 
C principle even to those persons who had retired before the notified 
date-Emoluments to be calculated according to Government mies in force 
at the time of retirement of the employees. 
On 25.5.1979 the Government of India introduced Liberalised Pension 
D Formula with revised method of calculation of pension based on slab system 
and raised monthly pension to Rs. 1500 p.m. The benefit of this liberalised 
Pension Formula, 1979 was made available only to those Government ser· 
vants who retired on or after 31.3.1979. The fixation of cut off date of 
31.3.1979 was challenged as arbitrary. This Court allowing the Writ Petition 
held that all the pensioners governed by CCS (Pension) Rules 1972 will be 
E governed by this liberalised scheme of pension irrespective of the date of 
their retirement. Accordingly, the Government issued orders extending the 
benefit of the judgment to all pensioners covered by CCS (Pension) Rules as 
well as liberalised Pension Rules, 1950. The Government clarified that only 
the benefit of this liberalisation should be allowed to all pensioners as had 
been mentioned in the Government Orders and that in all other respects the 
F 
rules, prevalent on the date of retirement of the pensioners will apply; that 
the revised pension was to be computed on the average emoluments drawn 
during the last 10 months of service. However, the definition of'emoluments' 
as in force at the time of the retirement" of an employee had not undergone 
any change. The petitioner, who retired from Government Service on 
G 1.5.1968, as Joint Secretary, after having got pension and other retirement 
benefits according to the Government rules in force at that time, claimed 
that he had to be given the same amount of pension as other employees of his 
rank irrespective of the date of retirement and argued that there should be 
no discrimination among the persons getting pension from the Government 
as there cannot be any classification among the retired Government 
H employees on the basis of date of retirement, and they must be given higher 
426 
K.L. RATHEEv. U.0.I. 
427 
pension on the same basis as it was being given to persons who bad retired A 
after 1.4.1979. 
Dismissing the writ petition, this Court 
HELD : According to the clarification issued by the Ministry of 
Finance, the average of the last ten months' emoluments must form the B 
basis for calculation of pension. That means those who were actually 
drawing larger emoluments in the last ten months of their service will get 
large amounts of pension. Nakara's Case does not lay down that the same 
amount of pension must be paid. to all persons retiring from Government 
service irrespective of the date of retirement. There is only one class of C 
government employees for the purpose of calculation of pension. There 
cannot be any mini classification of Government servants for calculating 
the amount of pension payable. That means the same method should be 
adopted for calculating pension for all Government servants. Even if 
pension is calculated on the basis of the same formula the basis of 
calculation has to be the average of the last ten month's emoluments as D 
the basis for calculation of pension must be uniformly applied to all 
persons drawing pension from the Central Government. It however, does 
not mean that the quantum of emoluments drawn during the last ten 
months of service of each Government employee must be taken to be the 
same. The emoluments have to be calculated according to the Government E 
rules in force at the time of retirement of the employees. Nakara's case is 
not a case of universal application irrespective of the facts and circumstan-
ces of the case. When the Government decided that pension was to be 
calculated on the basis of average salary drawn over a period of last ten 
months, it was held in Nakara's case that this principle has to be applied 
even to those persons who had retired before the notified date. That, F 
however, does not mean that the emoluments of the persons who were 
retiring after the notified date and those who have retired before the 
notified date holding the same status must be treated to be 

Excerpt shown. Read the full judgment & AI analysis in Lexace.