Employees Have No Fundamental Right to Choose Retirement Age: Supreme Court’s Landmark Ruling
Employees: The Supreme Court has delivered a significant judgment regarding the determination of retirement age for government employees. The court has clearly stated that no employee has a fundamental right to choose their retirement age. This power is vested in the State, which must exercise it reasonably and on the basis of equality under Article 14 of the Constitution.
This observation came during a case where a locomotor-disabled electrician was forced to retire at the age of 58, while visually impaired employees were allowed to continue working until the age of 60. The bench comprising Justice Manoj Misra and Justice K.V. Viswanathan heard the case.
In its ruling, the court stated, “An employee has no fundamental right to insist on a particular age of retirement.” The court further noted that determining the age of retirement is a policy decision of the executive branch. While the appellant was entitled to the same benefits as other employees until the date of withdrawal of a specific Office Memorandum (OM), he had no right to claim an extension of service beyond that date.
Incidentally, the appellant had claimed to continue in service until the age of 60 even after the OM withdrawal date, i.e., 04.11.2019. However, the court dismissed this claim, stating, “In our view, once the OM dated 04.11.2019 was issued, no right crystallized in favour of the appellant to continue in service up to the age of 60 years.”
However, the court partially allowed the appeal, stating that the appellant would be entitled to the benefit of continued service until 04.11.2019. Consequently, he will receive full salary and other ancillary benefits from 01.10.2018 to 04.11.2019, which may also impact his pension.
This judgment reaffirms the State’s authority in determining policies related to the age of retirement in government services. Simultaneously, the court has also made it clear that principles of equality and reasonableness must be followed while formulating such policies, especially when the rights of persons with disabilities are involved. The Supreme Court, in its observations, further emphasized that all benchmark disabilities under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPwD Act, 2016) should be treated uniformly for service-related benefits, including retirement age.
