No, Supreme Court Hasn’t Reduced Recovery Period for Pension Commutation
The viral claim is false. The recovery period for pension commutation remains 15 years from the date of commutation.
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Social media users are sharing posts to claim that a Supreme Court judgement has "directed that the recovery period for pension commutation for central government employees will now be 10 years and 8 months (128 months) instead of 15 years. (sic)."
Citing two civil writ petitions (CWP) — cases 2490 and 8222 of 2024 — the post claims that the decision was taken as "interest rates have fallen significantly, causing financial harm to pensioners."
The post adds that the apex court's decision is set to benefit both state and central government employees.
As per the Central Civil Services (Commutation of Pension) Rules, 1981, full pension can be restored only after 15 years from the date of commutation, and not in 10 years and eight months, as claimed.
How did we find out the truth?: We started by looking for the two cases mentioned in the claim.
A search for cases numbers 2490 and 8222 in 2024 led us to petitions on the website of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, not the Supreme Court, as claimed.
Both cases, 2490 and 8222, were filed by petitioners who were state government employees requesting interim stays, in order "to stop the recovery of Commuted Value of Pension till the vacation of Stay Orders, from all pensioners (including Petitioners) of State Government who have completed 10 years of retirement or above."
This shows CWP 2490/2024.
(Source: High Court of Punjab and Haryana/Screenshot)
Case 8222, titled 'OM PARKASH ANEJA V/S STATE OF PUNJAB AND OTHERS', was attached with 807 similar cases by the High Court.
In a final order issued for this group of cases, the Court dismissed all 808 writ petitions, meaning that there was no change in the recovery period, which continues to stand at 15 years after the date of commutation.
This shows the final order of the case which CWP 8222/2024 was attached to.
(Source: High Court of Punjab and Haryana/Screenshot)
What is commutation of pension?: To put it in simple terms, central government employees can choose to receive up to 40 percent of their pension amount as a lump sum payment, instead of receiving it in the form of monthly installments, as explained on the pensioner's portal.
The amount received as a lump sum is deducted from the monthly pension for a period of 15 years, after which the recipient is entitled to their full monthly pension.
In each of the writ petitions discussed in this report, pensioners requested courts to reduce the recovery period of commutation to 10 years and eight months due to falling interest rates, instead of the current period of 15 years.
The website provides a formula for pension commutation.
(Source: Pensioner's Portal/Screenshot)
What do current rules say?: The current rules and guidelines regarding pension for central government employees are outlined under the Central Civil Services (Commutation of Pension) Rules, 1981.
They clearly state that, "The commuted amount of pension shall be restored on completion of fifteen years from the date the reduction of pension..."
The current rules keep the recovery period at 15 years from the date of commutation.
(Source: Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions/Screenshot)
Conclusion: The viral post falsely states that the recovery period for pension commutation has been reduced to 10 years and eight months from the existing 15 years.
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