In Brief
Gopal Prasad was appointed at age 15½ to Bihar School Examination Board and sought retirement benefits as per his actual date of birth (19 Nov 1954). The Board retired him upon completing 42 years of service in May 2012, treating his entry age as 18 years per a 2004 resolution. The Supreme Court split 1-1 on whether Rule 73 (prescribing age 60 as retirement date) implicitly limits service to 42 years maximum. The majority (Rastogi J.) upheld retirement after 42 years, treating the service cap as implicit in pension rules. The minority (Banerjee J.) found age, not service length, governs retirement and the Board's order was ultra vires. No majority opinion; appeal dismissed, with assignment to larger Bench on disagreement.
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