Judicial officials seek old pension scheme

A bench of the Gujarat High Court has issued notices to the administrative wing of the high court, the state government and the legal department in connection with a petition filed by judicial officers seeking pension benefits. The notices were issued by the high court bench comprising acting Chief Justice AL Dave and Justice JB Pardiwala. 

Judicial magistrates and district judges of the state, who were appointed after April 2005, have sought the high court's intervention for payment of pension benefits to them as was paid to judicial officers senior to them.

The judges have challenged the resolution passed by the state government substituting the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) with the New Defined Contribution Pension Scheme (NDCPS) for government staff, boards and corporations.

The petitioner, the Gujarat Judicial Service Association (GJSA), has contended that with the introduction of the new scheme, the government has discontinued the provision of pension for retired government servants and judicial officers. The petition further says that as judicial officers are not government employees, they should not be covered by NDCPS but should be eligible for pension under OPS. Around 700 judicial officers are affected by the new scheme.

Anand Yagnik, counsel for GJSA, submitted in the petition that judicial officers appointed on or prior to the April 1, 2005 are also entitled to the same benefits, amount of gratuity and other allowances as are applicable to judicial officers appointed earlier. 

The petition says that the new scheme is applicable only to the employees of the state government and those appointed on or after April 2005. "The same is sought to be made applicable to judicial officers also and, due to misconception, it has been learnt that the offices of the Principal District and Sessions judge are insisting on the implementation of the NDCPS," the petition says.

It also points out that judges of the same cadre who were in the same select list but had received their appointment letter prior to April 2005 are governed by OPS while those appointed after this date are governed by NDCPS. 

The petition further states that judicial officers are not employees of the state government. They are judicial officers whose wages and benefits were fixed by the Shetty and Padmanabhan commissions. They had made a representation to the government but nothing came of it, the petition states.