Labour & Employment

30 years of service. State said no pension. One rule changed everything.

The Gujarat High Court held that Rule 25 of the Pension Rules compels the State to count temporary service, ending a 30-year fight over a pension denied on a technicality.

4 min read

54-day gap cost her Rs 10 lakh pension — Supreme Court steps in

A district judge retired on July 31, 2014. She became a high court judge on September 25, 2014. The government said the 54-day break meant she couldn't blend her service — and calculated her pension as if she'd never been a high court judge.

6 min read

An ice-cream trip, a kidnapping, and a pregnancy at 28 weeks: the case that tested medical reality.

A teenage rape victim's pregnancy crossed 28 weeks before two medical boards independently concluded termination would endanger both her life and a viable foetus, forcing the court to choose between reproductive choice and medical reality.

5 min read

Army officer's wife complained to his boss. Court called it cruelty.

She wrote to the Chief of Army Staff and women's commission. He lost promotions. The Supreme Court said: that's mental cruelty, even if she meant to 'save' the marriage.

4 min read

Can a Chief Justice alone decide promotion rules for High Court staff?

The Supreme Court upheld a Chief Justice's order requiring graduation for promotion to Head Assistant, ruling it didn't need Full Court approval.

6 min read

Charges proved, no loss to bank — yet removal was too harsh.

The Kerala High Court upheld the inquiry findings against a 30-year banker but set aside his removal because the bank admitted no loss and had treated similar misconduct leniently, forcing a reconsideration of proportionality.

4 min read

Disabled teacher transferred closer home loses seniority; SC restores it

Net Ram Yadav, a physically disabled teacher, was posted 550 km from home. He sought transfer under a beneficial circular for disabled persons. The state then downgraded his seniority, costing him a promotion. The Supreme Court said the rule penalizing transfers on request doesn't apply to disabled employees exercising such benefits.

6 min read

EPFO lost the appeal. But its substantive right under IBC survived.

The Supreme Court dismissed EPFO's appeal for missing an IBC deadline but preserved its substantive claim under Section 36(4)(a)(iii), while directing disciplinary action against erring employees.

3 min read

EPFO lost the appeal but won a warning that changes IBC compliance forever.

The Supreme Court dismissed EPFO's appeal for missing an IBC deadline but preserved its substantive rights under Section 36(4)(a)(iii) while ordering disciplinary action against erring officers

3 min read

He disclosed his defence in the enquiry. Then the Supreme Court upheld his dismissal.

When an employee discloses his defence in a departmental enquiry, the ground for staying it pending a criminal trial evaporates, and the dismissal can proceed.

5 min read

He overstayed leave by 108 days. The Army dismissed him. The Supreme Court said: that's actually a lighter punishment.

A soldier with five prior offences for the same misconduct argued his punishment was too harsh. The top court explained why dismissal can be less severe than jail time.

6 min read

Hindu law said he was the son. The pension rules said he wasn't.

A Hindu widow adopted a child two years after her government-servant husband died, but the Supreme Court ruled that the pension rules' definition of family requires a direct nexus with the deceased during his lifetime.

5 min read

IAF officers can't withdraw resignation after approval, says SC

Four officers applied for early retirement, got approval, then changed their minds. The Supreme Court says the Air Force policy—not civilian service rules—governs.

6 min read

Imports under court orders? SC says not bona fide if other HCs already said no

Two importers rushed to bring in yellow peas after getting interim relief from Bombay HC, but the Supreme Court held that ignoring earlier dismissals by other HCs makes the imports illegal.

4 min read

NIA's conspiracy charge hits a wall: old law's missing stamp

The agency filed a chargesheet for a foiled car-bomb attack on a CRPF convoy. But the judge refused to take up the conspiracy count because a pre-2019 J&K law required government permission — and the NIA didn't have it.

6 min read

NSEL called itself a pass-through. The Supreme Court called it a financial establishment.

The Supreme Court reversed the Bombay High Court and held that a spot exchange collecting money and commodities with an obligation to return them is a financial establishment under the MPID Act, not a mere pass-through platform.

6 min read

Parliament fixed a law the Supreme Court said was broken — and it stuck.

When Parliament amended the Gratuity Act to include teachers from 1997, schools cried retrospective foul — but the Supreme Court held that a legislative cure for a definitional defect does not violate separation of powers.

5 min read

RBI lost. But one judge hinted the law on PwD promotions is wrong.

A landmark Supreme Court ruling gave a disabled RBI employee his promotion after 17 years, but a concurring opinion now threatens to unsettle the entire law on horizontal promotional reservations.

5 min read

Retired Roadways workers lose pension battle after accepting PF

Supreme Court says employees who never held pensionable posts can't claim pension decades later, after already taking provident fund benefits.

8 min read

RPF is an armed force. Its constable still wins compensation under the 1923 Act.

The Supreme Court holds that the armed forces exclusion clause in the Employees Compensation Act applies only to Army, Navy and Air Force personnel, not to members of statutory forces like the Railway Protection Force.

6 min read

Rule 26(2) of the CCS Pension Rules: the 10-day window that triggered forfeiture.

A CISF inspector's resignation without due permission cost him 13 years of pension, even after two High Court victories, as the Supreme Court enforced Rule 26(2) to the letter.

6 min read

Separate courses, separate bank accounts — still clubbed for EPF.

A Supreme Court judgment shuts the door on treating separately registered institutions as distinct for EPF coverage when they share management, premises, and financial ties

5 min read

She was on contract. Then regularized. Her past counted for pension.

The Supreme Court held that once a contract employee is regularized, their prior service must count for pension under Rule 17, overriding Rule 2(g)'s exclusion.

5 min read

Ten years worked. Zero pension counted. The Supreme Court said no.

A woman who worked ten years before regularisation lost her pension claim because the Supreme Court drew a hard line between casual and temporary service under Rule 13.

5 min read

Tenure post. Pension benefits. The college still lost the pay protection fight.

A tenure-based appointment can still be a substantive post if it carries pension, gratuity, and a retirement age—so the narrow exception in Article 77-D does not apply.

5 min read

Termination upheld in 1994. A 2008 audit letter. The Supreme Court still said no.

A 1994 writ dismissal became final, but a 2008 audit report prompted a fresh petition, forcing the Supreme Court to decide whether new evidence can revive a dead dispute.

5 min read

They drove UP's buses for decades. Now the Supreme Court says: no pension.

Thousands of retired UP Roadways employees were denied pension because they never held a 'pensionable post' — and a 1960 government order that most had never heard of sealed their fate.

6 min read

This CISF inspector's 10-day job offer cost him 13 years of pension.

A CISF inspector resigned for a PSU job without permission, hid the reason, and lost his pension—the Supreme Court ruled that sympathy cannot override a clear statutory rule.

5 min read