Pan-India Fallout Of Himachal Pradesh High Court Verdict On Pension For Ex-PSC Chairpersons & Members

In a historic verdict, the Himachal Pradesh High Court has settled a long-standing anomaly regarding the pension of retired non-official Chairpersons and Members of the Public Service Commission (PSC). The judgment could set a national precedent, empowering former PSC members across states to claim their rightful pension benefits.

As per existing norms, those Chairpersons and Members hailing from the bureaucracy, armed forces, or similar government backgrounds receive pensions under service regulations. However, another category — comprising advocates, corporate executives, journalists, and others — falls outside the ambit of such benefits. This exclusion has led to significant post-retirement hardships for many distinguished individuals.

Article 316 of the Constitution bars former PSC Members from accepting post-retirement assignments to preserve the neutrality of the UPSC and state PSCs. Ironically, while this restriction was meant to uphold dignity, it ended up depriving non-officials of financial security after retirement. Due to spirit of this article, ex chairpersons or ex members have been barred from taking any assignment of either state or central governments.

Against this backdrop, a division bench of Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Sushil Kukreja has now decisively ruled that non-officials are also entitled to periodic pension revisions, describing it as "mandatory." The court asserted that pension must enable retirees to live with "decency, independence, and self-respect," maintaining standards equivalent to their pre-retirement status.

Across India, more than a dozen state PSCs, including Punjab and Uttarakhand, continue to underpay their retired non-official Chairpersons and Members, primarily because their respective governments have failed to recognize the logic of ensuring a dignified life for these constitutional appointees. Notably, some states like Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, and Haryana have already extended respectable pensions to their PSC retirees. The Himachal Pradesh government has been asked by high court to revise pension thereby correcting a historical injustice.

Officials point out that the anomaly existed largely because only a negligible number of non-bureaucrats were ever appointed to PSC positions. For decades, retired bureaucrats have dominated these constitutional bodies and trend continues unabated, ensuring their own benefits while neglecting the non-official appointees.

The High Court has directed the Himachal government to study the Kerala High Court’s 2013 judgment, which had similarly recognized the legitimate pension rights of non-official PSC members. Legal experts widely endorse the Kerala ruling, which underscored that pension enhancements must reflect cost-of-living increases and maintain parity between officials from service and outsiders.

Historically, pension revisions were carried out in sync with pay revisions, even without formal amendments to regulations. Yet, the government's recent impugned order created a stark anomaly: while pensions for former bureaucrats saw increases of approximately +50%, those for non-officials were slashed by -50%. This glaring disparity violated the principle of proportionality between pay and pension.

Fixing pensions at 21% and 23% of salary — down from earlier rates of 41%-44% — cannot be justified under constitutional or regulatory provisions. The Kerala High Court ruled that this arbitrary reduction constituted a violation of fundamental rights under Articles 14, 16, and 21 of the Constitution. Importantly, the court emphasized the critical expectation of neutrality from PSC Chairpersons and Members, reinforcing the need to ensure their financial dignity post-retirement.

Experts believe that Chief Minister Sukhu’s resolve to address the anomaly will not only bring long-overdue justice to former Chairpersons and Members of the Himachal PSC but could also trigger similar corrective measures nationwide.

The ramifications of this landmark verdict are expected to echo across the country, establishing a new benchmark for how non-official appointees to constitutional bodies must be treated post-retirement.

(The writer is a senior political analyst based in Shimla.)

Published on: Tuesday, April 29, 2025, 10:20 AM IST