MOST
IMMEDIATE/
IMPLEMENTION
OF CAT ORDER
Ministry
of Personnel Public Grievances and Pensions
Department
of Pension and Pensioners Welfare
*******
Lok
Nayak Bhawan,
Khan
Market, New Delhi-110 003
dated 27th August, 2009
OFFICE MEMORANDUM
|
Subject: |
OA No.
504 of 2009 filed in the Central Administrative Tribunal, Ernakulam
Bench – Grant of additional pension on attaining the age of 80 years
regarding |
The following Applicants
filed OA No. 504 of 2009 in the Central Administrative Tribunal, Ernakulam Bench seeking direction of the hon’ble CAT that the pensioners/family pensioners may be
given the additional quantum of pension/family pension, in terms of Department
of Pension & PW Resolution No. 38/37/08-P&PW(A)
dated 29.8.2008, O.M. No.
38/37/08-P&PW(A) dated 1.9.2008 and O.M.
No. 38/37/08-P&PW(A)
(pt. I) dated 3.10.2008, just after their completion of the age of 79 years:
2. The Central Administrative Tribunal, Ernakulam
Bench, in its Order dated 28.7.2009 disposed of the above OA with the following
advice to the Secretary, Department of Pension & Pensioners Welfare:
“To
consider the
representations at Annexures A-4 to A-6 along with
the grounds raised in the OA and pass a suitable order within a period of two
months from the date of communication of this order.”
3. In compliance of the above advice of the Hon’ble
CAT, the representations at Annexure A-4 to A-6 and the grounds raised in para
5 of the OA No. 504 of 2009 have been examined in the Department of Pension
& Pensioners Welfare.
4. The thrust of the argument made in the representations/OA
is that a person attains the age of 80 years on completion of the age of 79
years and, therefore, the additional quantum of pension available on attaining
the age of 80 years should be paid immediately on completion of the age of 79
years.
5. The above argument of the Applicants is on account of
misinterpretation of the meaning of the phrase “attaining the age of”. The
position in the Rules regulating the service conditions of the Government
servants in this respect is well settled. In accordance with Rule 56 of the
Fundamental Rules applicable to the Government servants, a Government servant
retires from service on the afternoon of the last day of the month in which he
attains the age of 60 years.
Accordingly, a Government servant retires on the afternoon of the last
day of the month in which he completes the age of 60 years and not in the month
in which he completes the age of 59 years. On this analogy, the additional
pension/family pension on attaining the age of 80 years has to be paid only
after the pensioner completes the age of 80 years and not after he completes
the age of 79 years.
6. In para 5(M) of the OA, the Applicants
have referred to the Venkataramani Iyer’s Law laxicon with Legal
Maxims (Reprint 1991) according to which a person attains the age of 21 years
“on the day preceding the anniversary of his 21st Birthday”. In
terms of this definition itself, a person born on 5.4.1988 attains the age of
21 years on 4.4.2009 and not on 5.4.2008.
7. It is clear from the above that a
person attains the age of 80 years only when he completes the age of 80 years
and not when he completes the age of 79 years. However, for the sake of
convenience, it has been provided in the orders issued by this Department that
the additional quantum of pension/family pension, on attaining the age of 80
years and above, would be admissible from the 1st day of the month in which the
date of birth falls..
8. In the light of the foregoing, the request of the Applicants
for payment of
the additional quantum of pension available on attaining the age of 80
years immediately on completion of the
age of 79 years is not agreed to.
9. This issues with the approval of Secretary, Department of
Pension & Pensioners Welfare.
(M.P.Singh)
Director
(PP)
Copy to:
Secretary, Railway Board, Rail Bhawan,
(M.P.Singh)
Director
(PP)
Please
visit: http://pensionersportal.gov.in