The Supreme Court has ruled that a government employee cannot be denied pension benefits due to a so-called “break in service” if their period of absence was regularized as extraordinary leave.
A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Prashant Kumar Mishra addressed a case where a retired government employee was prevented from signing the attendance register and performing her duties. Despite her prolonged absence, no departmental inquiry was conducted, and her service was later regularized by treating the period as extraordinary leave.
The appellant sought pension and retiral benefits, but these were denied on the grounds that her absence did not count as service for pension eligibility. After unsuccessful attempts before the State Administrative Tribunal and the High Court, she took the matter to the Supreme Court.
Overturning the previous rulings, the Court held that once an employee’s absence is regularized through extraordinary leave, it cannot be classified as an unauthorized “break in service” to justify denying pension. The judgment emphasized that it was the responsibility of the respondents to substantiate claims of unauthorized absence through a proper departmental inquiry.
The Court further stated that the failure to conduct an inquiry could not shift the burden onto the appellant to prove she was prevented from working. It clarified that pension denial must be backed by specific rules, and in this case, the government had no legal basis for withholding benefits.
The Court directed the authorities to finalize and process the appellant’s pension within three months.