All Pensioners Form A Single Class, & Classification Based On Cut-Off Date For Revised Pension Benefits Is Arbitrary & Violative Of Article 14: Chhattisgarh HC

The Chhattisgarh High Court bench comprising of Justice Rakesh Mohan Pandey held that differentiating pension benefits based on the retirement date violates Article 14 of the Constitution as it creates an arbitrary classification without a justifiable relation to the objective of pension revision. It was contended by the petitioner that the State Government cannot create two classes of pensioners, namely, government servants who retired prior to 01.01.2006 and after 01.01.2006. it was further submitted that such classification is discriminatory and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. It was held by the court that all the pensioners form a single class, and therefore, such a classification for the purpose of grant of revised pension is unreasonable, arbitrary, discriminatory, and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. was relied upon by the court wherein the High Court of Madhya Pradesh held that the employees who stood retired prior to 01.01.2006 should be treated similarly with the persons who stood retired after 01.01.2006, as per the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of All Manipur Pensioners Association.