RAM RATAN VERMA AND ORS. vs THE UNION OF INDIA AND ORS.

Judgment text excerpt

* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI Reserved on: 09th March, 2026 Pronounced on: 16th April, 2026 Uploaded on: 16th April, 2026 + W.P.(C) 7270/2019 RAM RATAN VERMA AND ORS. .....Petitioners Through: Mr. Shailendra Singh and Mr. Abhyuday Dhasmana, Advocates. versus THE UNION OF INDIA AND ORS. .....Respondents Through: Mr. Manoj and Ms. Aparna Sinha, Advocates for R-2. Dr. Monika Arora, CGSC with Mr. Prabhat Kumar, Advocate for R-1, 3, 4. CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SANJEEV NARULA JUDGMENT SANJEEV NARULA, J.: 1. This writ petition has been filed by retired direct recruits of the Food Corporation of India1 seeking a mandamus directing the Respondents to grant them the benefit of pension on the footing that they were wrongly excluded from the regime available to the employees who had come into FCI from the erstwhile Food Department. The claim is founded essentially on parity and discrimination. 2. FCI was established in the year 1965. The FCI Staff Regulations came 1 “FCI” Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed W.P.(C) 7270/2019 Page 1 of 17 By:NITIN KAIN Signing Date:16.04.2026 18:41:15 into force in the year 1971. According to the Petitioners, employees recruited prior to the coming into force of those Regulations were initially governed by the Central Civil Services Rules.2 They further state that, till the year 1983, both the employees transferred from the erstwhile Food Department and the direct recruits of FCI continued on the Central Dearness Allowance pattern, with pay and allowances broadly aligned to those of Central Government employees. 3. The Petitioners who belong to the class of direct recruits have a grievance that, although they worked in the same establishment, under the same pay pattern for long periods, and within the same service structure as the