HC for increasing retirement age of freedom fighters to 61

The High Court today observed that the freedom fighter public servants should be given job facilities till their 61 years instead of current age limit that is 60 years.

The court also scrapped the provision of public servant retirement law that had enhanced the retirement age limit for the freedom fighter public servants from 59 years to 60 years.

Delivering a verdict on two separate writ petitions, the HC observed that under the existing law, a general candidate’s last age for joining the public service is 30 years while a freedom fighter’s last age for joining the public service is 32 years.

A general public servant’s retirement age is 59 years now and therefore, his or her duration of service is at least 29 years and a freedom fighter’s retirement age is 60 years and therefore, a freedom fighter’s duration of service is 28 years.

In this situation, a freedom fighter public servant gets less duration and service facilities by one year than a general public servant and therefore, the provision of the Public Servant Retirement (Amendment) Act, 2013 increasing the retirement age of the freedom fighter public servants from 59 years to 60 years is illegal and contradictory to the constitution, the HC ruled.

Barrister ABM Siddiqur Rahman Khan, a lawyer for the petitioners, told The Daily Star that the freedom fighter public servants can continue their service till 61 years following the HC verdict.   

The bench of JusticeGobinda Chandra Tagore and Justice AKM Shahidul Huq came up with the verdict following two separate writ petition filed by two freedom fighter public servants Tapan Kumar Saha and SM Mosir Uddin Waresi last year challenging the legality of the Public Servant Retirement (Amendment) Act, 2013.

The court said the parliamentary standing committee on the public administration had decided to increase the freedom fighter public servants’ retirement age limit from 59 years to 61 years and asked the ministry concerned to take step to this effect.

But, the government has increased the freedom fighter public servants’ retirement age limit from 59 years to 60 years and therefore, the desire of the parliament has not been reflected, it said.

The government amend the Public Service Retirement Act, 1974 raising the retirement age limit of the freedom fighter public servants from 57 to 59 years in 2009.

In 2013, the government amend the law enhancing the retirement age limit for the public servants from 57 to 59 years and further raised it for the freedom fighter public servants from 59 years to 60 years.

Yesterday, the HC observed in the verdict that in comparison with general public servants the freedom fighter public servants’ retirement age had been enhanced by two years in 2010 and thereby the freedom fighters had been honoured in recognition of their contribution in the war of country’s liberation.

By enhancing the retirement age of the freedom fighter public servants by one year in comparison to the general public servant in 2013, their honour has been damaged.

Citing the facilities given by the government to the freedom fighters, the HC said the Public Servant Retirement (Amendment) Act, 2013 increasing the retirement age of the freedom fighter public servants from 59 years to 60 years is contradictory.

Such an unreasonable act cannot be enacted by any reasonable mind of the parliament, the HC observed.

The HC also observed that the contribution of the freedom fighters in the country’s Liberation War in 1971 has been recognized by the declaration of the independence and the preamble of the constitution of the state.