Must pre-regularization service on contract, ad hoc or daily-wage basis be computed as qualifying service for pension where the breaks in service are only notional?

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)