Does the substance of an employee's engagement prevail over the nomenclature used in appointment letters where the record shows an intention to regularize?

Punjab School Education Board (Employees' Pension, Provident Fund and Gratuity) Regulations, 1991 — Reg.3, Reg.8(2) — Pension — Qualifying service — Regularization — Deferred wage — Res judicata — Pensionary consequences of regularization — Distinct cause of action — Held: Res judicata does not bar a claim for the pensionary consequences of regularization where an earlier round of litigation concerned only the claim for regularization itself; the cause of action and relief are distinct. (¶21) Regularization — Substance over form — Nomenclature of appointment letters — Held further: The substance of an employee's engagement prevails over the nomenclature used in appointment letters; consistent departmental record showing an intention to regularize outweighs the use of the word 'appointment'. (¶22, 23, 25) Pension — Deferred wage — Qualifying service — Notional breaks in service — Held further: Pension is a deferred wage for past service, not a bounty; pre-regularization service on contract, ad hoc or daily-wage basis must be computed as qualifying service where the intervening breaks in service are notional or administrative. Appeal dismissed. (¶27, 30, 34)