In Brief
Judicial Officers who served as Fast Track Court Judges in Jharkhand were subsequently appointed to the regular Superior Judicial Service following an examination process. However, they were treated as fresh recruits and denied credit for their years of Fast Track service in pension calculations. The Supreme Court held that these officers, drawn from a merit list and appointed due to inadequate regular cadre strength, were entitled to have their Fast Track service counted for pension and retiral benefits. The Court found that the State's failure to create sufficient regular posts cannot be used to arbitrarily deny service-counting benefits to those who provided long years of judicial service. The appeals were allowed.
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