Army pension rules applicable to Defence Security Corps service, Delhi High Court allows for forgiveness of service shortfall towards pension benefits

A Division Bench of the Delhi High Court, comprising Justice Rekha Palli and Justice Shalinder Kaur, while ruling on the writ petition, held that Military Pension Regulations 1961 also apply to DSC services, hence shortfalls in DSC services may be forgiven towards retirement benefits.

General information

The employee served in the Indian Army for 23 years from January 26, 1980 to February 1, 2003. After completing more than 15 years of service, he was eligible for and received service pension for his service in the Army. After retirement from the Army, the employee was commissioned in the Defence Security Corps (DSC) on July 8, 2003. He served in the DSC for 14 years, 2 months and 21 days until his retirement on September 30, 2017.

Under the Military Pension Regulations of 1961 (PRA of 1961)The qualifying period of service in DSC is 15 years. However, the employee’s service in DSC was less by 280 days, which disqualified him from receiving DSC pension. The employee approached the Armed Forces Tribunal seeking remission of the shortfall of 280 days in qualifying service in DSC, as authorised by section 125 of the PRA 1961, which allows for remission of up to 12 months of service shortfall.

The Armed Forces Tribunal allowed the employee’s application and granted condonation of his deficiency in service, making him eligible for DSC pension. The Tribunal based its decision on earlier judgments, holding that the provisions relating to condonation of deficiency in service under the PRA, 1961 and the PRA, 2008 were applicable to DSC personnel. Aggrieved by this, the Union of India filed a writ petition challenging the decision of the Tribunal.

The main contention of the Union of India was that the provisions for remission of deficiency in qualifying service under Section 125 of the Pension Rules (PRA, 1961) are not applicable to personnel serving in the Defence Security Corps (DSC). They argued that the DSC is a separate entity from the Indian Army, with separate rules governing its personnel. Therefore, the provisions enabling remission of deficiency in qualifying service for Army personnel should not be extended to DSC personnel.

The UOI further argued that DSC service was separate from Indian Army service and could not be combined for the purpose of pension. They argued that the employee had already been granted pension for 23 years of service in the Indian Army and his subsequent service as DSC should be treated separately.

On the other hand, the employee argued that the right of the respondents to get two service pensions is derived from the provisions themselves, like Section 266 of the PRA of 1961 and Section 173 of the PRA of 2008, which expressly provide that all the provisions of the pension provisions shall be applicable to service in DSC. The provisions relating to condonation of service deficiency contained in Section 125 of the PRA of 1961 and Section 44 of the PRA of 2008 shall be applicable to service in DSC.

The employee further submitted that since the respondents, if granted shortfall relief in DSC service, would be drawing second service pension, UOI cannot contend that the provisions relating to shortfall relief would not be applicable to DSC service.

Court Findings

The Court observed that a cursory perusal of the provisions of both the PRA, 1961 and the PRA, 2008 clearly indicates that the respondent was right in his contention that all the provisions of the Pension Regulations, unless they are found to be inconsistent with Chapter VIII of the PRA, 2008 and Chapter IV of the PRA, 1961, shall be equally applicable to the service of DSC.

The court further observed that apart from clearly stating that condonation of deficiency in service is not applicable to service under DSC, the UOI has not even pointed out any express provision in the chapters relating to service under DSC which prohibits condonation of deficiency in qualifying service.

The court observed that since no inconsistency was pointed out between the provisions relating to condonation and the provisions relating to DSC service, UOI cannot contend that the provisions of Section 125 of the PRA, 1961 and Section 44 of the PRA, 2008, which provide for condonation of deficiency in service, would not be applicable to the service under DSC.

The court considered the provisions of section 125 of the PRA 1961, which allowed for forgiveness of shortfalls in qualifying service up to a maximum of one year (12 months). It found that the employee’s shortfall of 280 days was within the allowable forgiveness limit under the pension provisions and the court allowed it.

In view of the above observations, the petition filed by the Indian Union was dismissed.

Case number: WP(C) 2986/2024

Counsel for Petitioners: Shekha, CGSC, Raj Kumar Maurya and Krishna Chaitanya, Advocates

Counsel for the defendants: Praveen Kumar, Advocate

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