The main legal point established is that the service rendered by a fixed pay employee should be considered for pension calculation, in accordance with the relevant rules and the State's obligation to provide pension benefits.

Deepak Gupta, J.

The short question which arises in this writ petition is whether the service rendered by the petitioner as fixed pay employee as School Mother has to be taken into consideration while computing her qualifying period for purposes of grant of pension and other retiral benefits.

2. The undisputed facts are that the petitioner was appointed as School Mother on fixed term basis vide order dated 19-07-1990. This appointment was on contractual basis but it continued till the petitioner was regularized in service on 03-11-2007. She retired on attaining the age of superannuation on 30-06-2013. The petitioner claims that this service is to be counted for purposes of calculating her qualifying service.

3. On the other hand, the stand of the State is that the appointment of the petitioner on fixed term basis cannot be taken into consideration and since the petitioner has not completed 10 years of service since her regular appointment in 2007 she is not entitled to pension. It is contended that the petitioner was not in a pensionable employment and was not a Government servant till her regularization.

4. Reference in this behalf may be made to the Tripura Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1988. Rule 1(ii) reads as follows:-

“1(ii). They shall apply to all employees of the Government of Tripura except persons appointed to any All India Services.”

Rule 2(c) reads as follows:-

“2(c). “Government Employee” means a person appointed to a service or post in connection with the affairs of the State;”

5. Rule 1(ii) clearly mentions that it applies to all employees of the Government of Tripura except persons appointed to any All India Services. This rule makes no distinction between temporary employees, permanent employees, contractual employees etc. Therefore, it is apparent that even a contractual employee is governed by the Tripura Civil Services (Conduct) Rules and is bound to maintain the standards of conduct expected under the said rules. Rule 2(c) again defines Government employee to mean a person appointed to a service or post in connection with the affairs of the State.

6. The main issue is as to whether the petitioner is a Government Servant or not. The basic authority on the point is a Constitutional Bench judgment of the Apex Court in The State of Assam and others v. Kanak Chandra Dutta, [AIR 1967 SC 884]. Reference may be made to paras-9, 10 and 11 of the judgment which read as follows:-

“9. The question is whether a Mauzadar is a person holding a civil post under the State within Art.311 of the Constitution. There is no formal definition of "post" and "civil post". The sense in which they are used in the Services Chapter of Part XIV of the Constitution is indicated by their context and setting. A civil post is distinguished in Art. 310 from a post connected with defence; it is a post on the civil as distinguished from the defence side of the administration, an employment in a civil capacity under the Union or a State, see marginal note to Art.311. In Art.311, a member of a civil service of the Union or an all-India service or a civil service of a State is mentioned separately, and a civil post means a post not connected with defence outside the regular civil services. A post is a service or employment. A person holding a post under a State is a person serving or employed under the State, see the marginal notes to Arts.309, 310 and 311. The heading and the sub-heading of Part XIV and Chapter I emphasise the element of service. There is a relationship of master and servant between the State and a person holding a post under it. The existence of this relationship is indicated by the State's right to select and appoint the holder of the post, its right to suspend and dismiss him, its right to control the manner and method of his doing the work and the payment by it of his wages or remuneration. A relationship of master and servant may be established by the presence of all or some of these indicia, in conjunction with o