The Apex Court in the case of Director General, Doordarshan Prasar Bharti Corporation vs Smt.Magi H Desai has held that as per Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules 1972, the period of services rendered as a contractual employee cannot be said to be service rendered on a substantive appointment and thus contractual employees will not qualify as a service for the purpose of pensionary benefits.

The present case revolves around an appeal filed against the Gujarat HC judgement which the services of Director General, Doordarshan Prasar Bharti Corporation of India rendered that contractual staff shall be liable to be counted as temporary service for the purpose of calculating the qualifying service for pensionary/retiral benefits.

The Court noted that as per Rule 13 of the CCS (Pension) Rules, the qualifying service of a Government servant shall commence from the date he takes charge of the post to which he is first appointed either substantively or in an officiating or temporary capacity. It further provides that such officiating or temporary service is followed without interruption by substantive appointment in the same or another service or post. The Apex Court held that the High Court erred in observing that the services in temporary capacity will include the classes of temporary service such as casual or even contractual.

The Court thus concluded that neither the rule nor the regularisation scheme provides that services rendered as casual/contractual shall be treated as temporary service and/or the same shall be counted for the purposes of pensionary/service benefits,” and thus set aside the High Court judgement.