The Supreme Court held that employees who are absorbed into a service under the State Government are entitled to pension benefits at par with regular employees, from the date of their absorption.
In 1995, a large number of co-operative societies and their employees involved in the distribution of electricity were merged with the Madhya Pradesh State Electricity Board (MPSEB). In 2019, a Full Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court held that the absorbed employees were not entitled to the same pension benefits as the employees of MPSEB in a petition filed by a labour union. This decision was appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court set aside the High Court’s decision. It held that there cannot be two classes of employees within the same organisation. It would be discriminatory to deny the same pension benefits to the absorbed employees as provided to other MPSEB employees.
Vijay Kumar Joshi v Akash Tripathi
13 May 2025
Citations: 2025 INSC 670 | 2025 SCO.LR 5(2)[10]
Bench: Justices Vikram Nath and P.B. Varale
Case Comment
The only issue which is relevant for adjudication in these appeals is with regard to admissibility of pension to the employees of the Societies who were absorbed with the MPSEB and if the answer to the same is yes, then what would be the length of service to be counted i.e. whether the service rendered in the Society would also be counted for determining the qualifying period for calculation of pension or only the service rendered after absorption in the MPSEB would be counted.
Held, It would be wholly unjust to deny pension benefits to the absorbed employees when they are performing the same duties and discharging the same responsibilities as other MPSEB employees. Further in the judgment in the case of BKS, relief has already been granted partially. Thus, there cannot be two classes of employees in the same organisation. One set with pension and the other without pension. In such circumstances, denying them the benefit of pension solely on the ground of their origin in the societies would amount to unjust discrimination.
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Key words/phrases: Merger and absorption—pension benefits to the absorbed employees—Labour Union—Madhya Pradesh State Electricity Board (MPSEB)—no discrimination—pension available from date of absorption
Read the Judgement here.