CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Wednesday ordered notice to the state government directing it to file reply to a petition seeking inclusion of those employees who have retired from service before December 31, 2025, in the Tamil Nadu Assured Pension Scheme (TAPS) for government employees. Justice PT Asha, while issuing notice, directed the state to file the reply by March 26, and adjourned the hearing.
The petition was filed by an aided-school teacher, R Renukadevi, who retired from service in 2017. She said the G.O. states that the TAPS shall come into force from January 1, 2026, and thereby, “makes it inapplicable to those who retired from service prior to this date”; and so, “it is contrary to law and the facts and circumstances and hence not proper and valid”.
Those who joined service on or after April 1, 2003, under the contributory pension scheme (CPS) are entitled to pension irrespective of their date of retirement, and therefore, those retired on or before December 31, 2025, “cannot be discriminated by the government by introducing clause 7 of the G.O. dated January 9, 2026”, the petition said.
Stating that the finance minister has said Rs 73,000 crore of CPS fund has been lying with the LIC, the petition noted that there can be no financial difficulty for the government to extend the TAPS to those joined after April 1, 2003, and retired before December 31, 2025.
“Having collected the pension fund from me, the government cannot deny monthly pension only because I retired from service in 2017,” Renukadevi said, praying for the court to stay the operation of clauses 5 (v) and 7 of the G.O.