A bench of the Madras High Court has ruled that resignation from a government post even for medical or health reasons results in forfeiture of past service. Therefore, such employees who have resigned from service are not eligible to receive a pension under the Tamil Nadu Pension Rules.

“Resignation from a service or post as per Rule 23 of the Tamil Nadu Pension Rules, 1978, entails forfeiture of past service. Therefore, resignation from service even on medical or health grounds entails forfeiture of past service. The grounds on which resignation is sought are immaterial and resignation shall only mean forfeiture of past service,” a bench comprising justices S M Subramaniam, D Bharatha Chakravarthy and C Kumarappan said in a recent judgment.

The bench said there is a legitimate distinction between resignation and voluntary retirement. “Therefore, resignation from service cannot be treated as voluntary retirement,” the bench said in the order.

A few petitioners approached the court and sought the quashing of the orders that rejected their pension claims. The petitioners also sought a direction from the court to the government to recognise their resignation as a voluntary retirement and pay them a pension with arrears.

The full bench noted that Rule 23 of the Pension Rules clearly states that resignation entails forfeiture of past service, except in cases where an employee resigns to accept another government post with prior permission.

The bench ruled that the rule does not recognise medical or health related conditions as an exception. It further stated that invalid pensions based on medical incapacity are covered by separate rules under the Pension Rules and cannot be read into resignation clauses.