PROVINCE OF PUNJAB through Secretary, W11/Secretary, Pension Cases
This matter involves a petition for leave to appeal filed by the Province of Punjab against an order of the Service Tribunal. The core legal question concerns the authority of the Service Tribunal to grant pensionary benefits to an employee in the absence of a specific government notification declaring their service as pensionable. The Supreme Court issued notice to the respondent to show cause why the petition should not be converted into an appeal and allowed. The Court's preliminary holding suggests that the Service Tribunal exceeded its jurisdiction by unilaterally ordering the regularization of service for pension purposes based on a notification that applied to a different category of contingent employees. The key principle laid down is that the Service Tribunal cannot create pensionary rights or regularize service for pension purposes where no specific notification exists to support such a claim, nor can it extend the benefits of notifications intended for distinct categories of employees to those not covered by such instruments.
- Can a Service Tribunal order pensionary benefits for an employee in the absence of a specific notification declaring their service as pensionable?
- Is it legally permissible for a Service Tribunal to extend the benefits of a notification concerning one category of contingent employees to a different category of employees?
ORDER
1. SHAFIUR RAHMAN, J.---Notice to issue to the respondent why the petition be not converted into an appeal and allowed for the reason that in the absence of a notification making non-pensionable service pensionable the Service Tribunal could not order so of its own on the basis of another notification concerning another and a different category of contingent employees whose services were regularized.