Employee acquiring disability during service entitled to extended retirement age: HP High Court
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Shimla, Aug 12,
The Himachal Pradesh High Court has held that a government employee who suffers a benchmark disability during service is entitled to the same extended retirement age benefits as those appointed under the handicapped quota.
Justice Jyotsna Rewal Dua, while allowing the petition of Dr. Daljit Singh on July 30 ruled that “merely because a person suffers disability in service, offers no valid ground to discriminate him vis-à-vis a person who was physically disabled at the time of appointment for the purpose of fixing retirement age.”
The Petitioner Dr. Singh joined as an Ayurvedic Medical Officer in 1982 and was later promoted to District Ayurvedic Officer. In 2001, he acquired 51 per cent permanent locomotor disability, certified by the District Hospital, Dharamshala. In 2013, the State enhanced the retirement age for physically disabled employees from 58 to 60 years, but retired Dr. Singh at 58 in 2015, citing that he was not appointed under the disability quota.
Rejecting this stand, the court noted that both the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995, and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, prohibit discrimination against employees acquiring disability during service and mandate reasonable accommodation. The definition of “person with disability” covers anyone with at least 40 pc certified disability, regardless of when it was acquired.
The bench held that Dr. Singh should have been allowed to serve until May 31, 2017, and directed the State to grant him all consequential benefits, including full salary for the two-year period and revision of pension, within five weeks.
A 20 pages verdict also ruled that disability acquired in service holds the same legal weight as pre-existing disability for determining retirement benefits.
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