BENGALURU: The High Court directed the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) to consider the past 10 years of service of the petitioner, N Krishnamurthy, who retired as Assistant Environment Officer after serving 30 years on a contract basis, for the limited purpose of extending pension benefits, subject to his satisfying other applicable requirements under the relevant pension rules.
“Such reckoning shall be confined only to the determination of pensionary benefits and shall not create any entitlement to back wages, arrears of salary or other service benefits. The KSPCB shall accordingly take necessary steps and extend the consequential pensionary benefits to the petitioner in accordance with law,” the court ordered.
A division bench of Justice D K Singh and Justice H Shanthi Bhushan passed the order modifying the order dated April 17, 2026, passed by a single judge, while dismissing the appeal filed by the KSPCB challenging the said order.
“We are also conscious of the fact that the petitioner has attained the age of superannuation and has retired from service on June 30, 2026. At this stage, directing the parties to undertake a fresh exercise with regard to his appointment or regularisation would serve little practical purpose. Having regard to the long period for which the petitioner has actually worked, we deem it appropriate to modify the relief granted by the learned Single Judge and extend a limited benefit to him,”, the court observed.