Pension Scheme Can Be Claimed From Date Of Entering Into Service, Not Date Of Approval Of Regular Appointment: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court recently observed that the relevant date while considering the pensionary benefits of Teachers would be the date on which the teacher entered into service and not the date on which the appointment was actually confirmed. Justice S. Vaidyanathan and Justice N Mala relied on the decision in V.Vasanthi v. State of Tamil Nadu wherein, on similar facts, the court had held that the service period of teachers commences from the date of appointment and not from the date of approval, even though the monetary benefits start to accrue only from the date of completion of the training. As per the judgement of the court, the Government passed G.O.Ms.No.430 dated 06.08.2004 introducing New Pension Scheme and the cut off date for New Pension Scheme was given as 01.04.2003 The teachers covered under the GO Ms. No. The court passed a common order on 22.12.2010 ordering that they would be entitled to the pension scheme applicable to teachers prior to 01.04.2003 and they would not be governed by G.O.Ms.No.430 dated 06.08.2004.