LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has upheld a decision recognising the pension rights of a government employee who served continuously on a contract for five years before being regularised, ruling that his continuous service could be counted toward the required pensionable service.
A two-member bench headed by Justice Muzamil Akhtar Shabbir dismissed an appeal filed by the Punjab government and upheld the single bench’s order to count the employee’s 10 years of continuous service for pension purposes. The ruling also maintained an order directing the authorities to provide pension and other benefits to his widow, Kaneeza Fatima.
Court Examines Contract Service
According to the court record, the woman’s husband was appointed as a naib qasid in the Health Department in 2005 on a contract basis and was regularised in 2010. He died in 2016.
The Punjab government had argued that an employee must complete 10 years of qualifying regular service to become eligible for pension and other benefits. It maintained that the employee’s contract period could not be included and that he had completed only five years of regular service after his appointment was made permanent.
Continuous Service Considered for Pension
The court referred to a Supreme Court judgment and noted that the employee had completed five consecutive years of contract service before being regularised.
The bench held that the circumstances of the case were different because the employee’s contract service had been continuous. Had there been a break in his five-year contract service before regularisation, that period would not have been counted for pension purposes.
Based on this distinction, the court concluded that the deceased employee qualified for pension and other related benefits.
Punjab Government Appeal Dismissed
The government lawyer had argued that the single bench had issued an unlawful decision while sitting in chambers. The Lahore High Court rejected the contention, finding no illegality in the earlier judgment.
With the dismissal of the Punjab government’s appeal, the order granting the deceased employee’s widow pension and other applicable benefits remains in force.