Construction Workers' Pension Can’t Be Denied Over Distinction In DoB When Identity Is Established & Claim Is Not Fake: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has observed that the right of pension of construction workers cannot be denied merely due to some distinction in the date of birth, as long as the identity can be established and the claim is not a fake or a ghost claim.

Noting that a large number of construction workers are either illiterate or even semi-illiterate and hail from rural background, Justice Prathiba M Singh said:

“It is nigh possible that their families may not preserve the proper record of date of birth and on most occasions date of birth is filled on the basis of information available with the adults in the family as also certain external events which may have occurred.”

The court imposed costs of Rs. 25,000 on Delhi Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board for denying pension to a carpenter registered with it since March 2013.

“Considering the nature of this case and due to the fact that the Petitioner has been wrongfully denied his rightful pension for a long period, costs of Rs. 25000/- are awarded to the Petitioner. The said costs shall be paid by the Board to the Petitioner within eight weeks,” the court ordered.

The worker had approached the court for release of his pension as per Rule 273 of the Delhi Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 2002. He attained the age of superannuation on December 31, 2014, and made an application for pension on January 05, 2016.

It was his case that despite repeated attempts, reminders and representations, his application for pension was not processed by the Board. A deficiency letter was issued to the worker on June 10, 2020, by the Board, as per which it was recorded that his age in the labour card and Aadhar card was different.

The worker was aggrieved by the fact that despite giving an affidavit confirming that his date of birth was January 01, 1955 and submitting his Aadhar card, his application was not processed.

Granting relief to the worker, the court said that his date of birth in the registration card with the Board and Aadhar card was correctly recorded. It added that there was no contradiction or distinction between the two documents.

“The Petitioner in the present case has been registered with the Board since March, 2013 and at the time of superannuation, he had worked as a building and other construction worker for more than one year and had paid his contribution for the entire period. The fact that the period of contribution extended by a couple of months beyond his retirement, cannot lead the inference that the date of birth was wrong or lead to the denial of pensionary benefits,” the court said.

Justice Singh said that there was no justification for not processing the pension application of the worker and that he fulfilled the conditions laid down in law for release of the pension and other benefits.

“Therefore, the petitions for release of pension due to the workers are allowed and disposed of in the above terms. The pension due to the Petitioner and applicable interest shall be released within 8 weeks, subject to necessary verification of credentials and documents, as per the Rules,” the court said.

Title: RAGHUNATH v. DELHI BUILDING AND OTHER CONSTRUCTION WORKERS WELFARE BOARD & ANR.

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Del) 312

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