CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL HYDERABAD BENCH HYDERABAD, this the 13^th day of February, 2025 Hon’ble Dr. Lata Baswaraj Patne, Judicial Member Hon’ble Mr. Varun Sindhu Kul Kaumudi, Administrative Member D. Abdul Roufe, S/o. Mabu Saheb, Aged about 60 years, Occ: Retired Senior Auditor, O/o. Accountant General (Audit), Saifabad, Hyderabad – 500 004, R/o. H. No. 51-206-5-1, Ravindranagar, Kadapa – 516003, Andhra Pradesh.

...Applicant (By Advocate: Dr. A. Raghu Kumar)

Vs.

1. The Union of India, Rep. by its Comptroller and Auditor General of India, 9, Deendayal Upadhyay Marg, New Delhi.

2. The Accountant General (Audit), Telangana, Saifabad, Hyderabad -4.

3. The Deputy Accountant General (Admn), O/o. Accountant General (Audit), Telangana, Saifabad, Hyderabad -4.

... Respondents (By Advocate: Mrs. Rachna Kumari, SC for IA & AD)

ORAL ORDER

(As per Hon’ble Dr.Lata Baswaraj Patne, Judicial Member)

The applicant filed the OA seeking the following relief:

“…to call for the records pertaining to the impugned Lr. No. AG (Audit)/PS/Admn.III/Pen.II/2022-23/34 dated 31.01.2023 rejecting the claim of the applicant for grant of benefits under Old Pension Scheme and declare the same as illegal, arbitrary and violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India and rules on the subject matter and law of the land and consequently declare that the applicant is entitled for being covered under the Old Pension Scheme in terms of the DOPT OM dt. 10.09.1993 and other orders of the Government issued from time to time on the subject matter, and be pleased to pass such other order and ordersas this Hon’ble Court may deem fit and proper, in the circumstances of the case.”

2. Brief facts of the case are that the applicant was engaged as daily wager from 01.02.1991 in the office of the respondents and he was granted temporary status w.e.f. 01.12.1995, vide order dt. 05.12.1995, along with seven other daily wage workers, in terms of the DOPT OM dt. 10.09.1993. While he was working with temporary status, the applicant was appointed as MTS in the respondents office w.e.f. 09.07.2012 pursuant to notification published in Employment News (28 August–3 September 2010). He successfully completed his probation and he also earned promotions as Clerk, Auditor and Senior Auditor, in which post, he retired on 31.10.2022 on attaining the age superannuation.

3. The claim of the applicant is that, though he had put in continuous service of 27 years 11 months from 01.12.1995 to 31.10.2022, he has not been granted retirement benefits under CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972, on the sole ground that he was appointed after 01.01.2004, thereby ignoring the service rendered by him prior thereto from 01.12.1995. Despite making several representations, his claim was not considered by the respondents. The specific plea of the applicant is that all the casual workers, who were granted temporary status, vide OO No. 47, dt. 05.08.1995, were taken to the rolls of regular establishment during 1997, though some of them had crossed the prescribed upper age limit of 25 years, except him. The applicant had earlier filed OA No. 1473/2002 for regularization of his services with consequential benefits and the said OA was dismissed by this Tribunal on 06.02.2004 on the ground that he had crossed the age of 25 at the time of his initial engagement. It is further submitted by the applicant that though a notification was earlier issued in August- September 2000 for recruitment to the posts of Group „D‟, no recruitment was made. Much thereafter, again a notification was published in 2010, against which, the applicant was appointed on 09.07.2012. A Government servant is eligible for superannuation pension under Ruler 33 and 44 of CCS (Pension) Rules, 2021 upon completion of 10 years of qualifying service. It is the further contention of the applicant that para 5(v) of Casual Labourers (Grant of Temporary Status and Regularization) Scheme of Government of India, 1993, appended to DOPT OM dt. 10.09.1993, stipula