Supreme Court rules pre-regularization service counts for pension benefits
The case concerns whether the pre-regularization service of employees of the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB), who were initially engaged on a contract or ad-hoc basis, should be counted as qualifying service for pension benefits, thereby entitling them to the old pension scheme rather than the new Defined Contributory Pension Scheme.
Appellants: Punjab School Education Board and another; Respondents: Satnam Singh and others; Bench: Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra.
- The Court rejected the appellant's plea of res judicata, distinguishing the current dispute over pensionary consequences from previous litigation regarding regularization.
- The Court held that the substance of the engagement (regularization) prevails over the form (appointment letters), finding that the Board's actions and public notices demonstrated an intent to regularize the employees.
- The Court concurred with the High Court's view that the employees were entitled to benefits flowing from regularization, including the counting of pre-regularization service for pension purposes.
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Document details
| Official title | Pre-Regularization Service Must Be Counted For Pension Benefits : Supreme Court |
| Source body | Supreme Court of India — orders & judgments |
| Reference number | — |
| Status | closed (order) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Closing date | — |
| Documents | 1 |