HC upholds tribunal order on Chandigarh teachers’ service till age of 65

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has upheld a Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) order granting Chandigarh teachers the benefit of service till the age of 65, observing that the benefit could not be denied when similarly placed colleagues had already been extended the same.

The Bench clarified that teachers who had retired at age of 58 but later served till 65 under the Tribunal’s order would be treated, by a legal fiction, as if they had been in continuous service during the gap. They would get notional increments and pay fixation for that intervening period, but no actual arrears of salary for the time they were out of service.

The teachers, who continued working beyond the age of 58 under interim Tribunal orders and actually discharged duties, will be treated as in uninterrupted service. They must be given all increments due after 58, and their salaries fixed accordingly. Since they worked during that period, they will also be entitled to actual arrears of salary along with increments.

Acting on a bunch of more than 40 petitions, the Bench of Justice Harsimran Singh Sethi and Justice Vikas Suri asserted: “It may be noticed that the grant of benefit of age of superannuation up to 65 years has already been allowed by the Division Bench of this Court to the similarly situated employees/colleagues of the teachers while deciding Dr Jogender Pal Singh’s case…. No differentiating factor between the two sets of employees was either brought to the notice of the Tribunal or even before this Court.”

Rejecting the Chandigarh Administration’s argument against extension of the superannuation age, the court warned that denial of the benefit would lead to discriminatory treatment. “In case, the argument of the Chandigarh Administration is accepted … the same will create an anomaly in treatment of two sets of similarly situated employees,” the order read.

Dismissing the plea for interference, the Bench held: “Keeping in view the totality of the circumstances, the impugned order passed by the tribunal dated March 21, 2023, granting the benefit of continuance in service up to the age of 65 to the teachers in the present proceeding needs no interference at the hands of this Court.”

Turning to the question of arrears, the court noted that the teachers had already received pensionary benefits upon retirement at 58, before being reinstated under the tribunal’s order. The issue of salary arrears had to be decided in line with service law jurisprudence.

Referring to the plea for further continuation beyond 65 years, the court observed senior advocate DS Patwalia and counsel Ayush Gupta appearing in no less than nine petitions was submitting that the teachers were also claiming continuance in service beyond the age of 65.

Disposing of the matter, the court recorded a statement that the Chandigarh Administration would decide representations within eight weeks. The counsel for the teachers submitted that they were satisfied with this arrangement.