Summary
A voluntarily retired DTC conductor sought pension by counting initial retainer service, training and sanctioned unpaid leave toward qualifying service. The Court accepted that service began with his first appointment on 27 May 1983, but deferred the appeal pending a larger-Bench reference on unpaid leave and pension consequences. No final pension award or dismissal was made.
Issues
- From what appointment date qualifying service should be counted.
- Whether unpaid leave and the relevant pension rules affected the minimum qualifying period.
- Whether the pending larger-Bench reference warranted deferring the appeal.
Held
- The appellant was entitled to count service from his first appointment on 27 May 1983, followed by regular appointment on 27 November 1983; counting only from regularisation was not accepted. (¶ 7)
- The produced leave account did not state that unpaid leave would disrupt service. The effect of Rules 27 and 28, and the treatment of unpaid leave under Lillu Ram, were matters in the pending larger-Bench reference in DTC v. Balwan Singh. (¶¶ 6, 8)
- The interests of justice favoured awaiting that reference. The order did not finally decide counting of the training period or the 98 days, the pension entitlement or the High Court’s constructive-res-judicata reasoning. (¶ 8)
Result
Appeal kept pending and directed to be listed after the decision in the reference in Civil Appeal No. 7159 of 2014, DTC v. Balwan Singh.