In short. If you were on the rolls of an ordnance factory on 1 October 2021, the forum for your service dispute turns on one question: were you a government servant or a company employee when the grievance arose? Staff still on deemed deputation, and anyone with a claim about government service before absorption, go to the Central Administrative Tribunal. Staff who were absorbed into one of the seven defence companies generally go to the High Court for later company decisions. A tribunal case often takes one to three years. Start by fixing your status on the date of the order.
Is this your situation?
- You joined an ordnance factory before October 2021 and now work for MIL, AVNL, AWEIL, TCL, YIL, IOL or GIL.
- The company has transferred you to another unit or city and you are still on deemed deputation.
- You opted for absorption in 2026 and now dispute your pension option, seniority or grade.
- Your MACP, pay fixation or promotion from the pre-2021 years was never settled.
- You retired from an ordnance factory, before or after 2021, and your pension or gratuity is wrong.
- A company officer has issued you a chargesheet and you doubt that officer's power to do so.
- Your parent or spouse died while on deemed deputation and the family has applied for compassionate appointment.
The answer in two lines
A dispute about your rights as a government servant goes to the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), even if a defence company is the one now paying your salary. A dispute about your rights as an employee of the company goes to the High Court under Article 226, because the seven companies are government companies and not bodies notified for the tribunal.
Most former Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) staff still fall in the first group. Until you sign an absorption option and the company accepts it, you remain a central government employee lent to the company. That is why transfer orders, MACP claims and disciplinary cases of deemed deputationists keep reaching the tribunal benches at Kolkata, Jabalpur, Chennai, Allahabad and elsewhere.
What the 2021 orders did, and what changed in 2026
The Ministry of Defence dissolved the Ordnance Factory Board with effect from 1 October 2021. The 41 factories, their assets and their work went to seven new defence public sector undertakings: Munitions India Limited, Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited, Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited, Troop Comforts Limited, Yantra India Limited, India Optel Limited and Gliders India Limited. Employees of all groups were sent to these companies on deemed deputation, at first for two years, without deputation allowance, and their service conditions as government servants were kept intact.
The deemed deputation was extended more than once while the unions and the ministry argued over absorption. In June 2026, as reported, the ministry decided that employees who do not choose absorption will stay on deemed deputation until they retire, and that the present arrangement continues up to 31 March 2027 so that the option process can be completed. The companies then circulated a common absorption package. One company's circular of 1 July 2026 fixed 15 October 2026 as the last date to give the option, and described the pension option made with it as final.
So in late 2026 the former OFB workforce has split into two groups: those who chose to stay government servants on deemed deputation, and those who chose to become company employees. Check the final orders for your own company, because dates and terms were issued company by company.
Which forum fits your status
| Your position | Whose employee you are for this dispute | Usual forum |
|---|---|---|
| Retired from an ordnance factory before 1 October 2021 | Retired central government servant | CAT bench where you live or where the order was passed |
| Working in a company on deemed deputation, no absorption | Central government servant lent to a company | CAT, after the Section 20 departmental step |
| Absorbed, but the dispute is about pay, MACP or seniority for the years before absorption | Government servant for that period | CAT, against the Union of India through the Department of Defence Production |
| Absorbed, and the dispute is about a company decision after absorption | Company employee | High Court writ, or labour forums where you are a workman |
| Absorbed, and the dispute is about your pro rata pension or gratuity for government service | Retired from government on the absorption date | CAT, with the pension sanctioning authority as a respondent |
| Recruited directly by a company after 2021 | Company employee only | High Court, or labour forums |
| Contract worker, trade apprentice or outsourced staff in a factory | Not a government servant | Labour authorities under the labour codes, civil court or High Court depending on the claim |
The provisions that decide the question
Section 14(1), Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985
The tribunal hears recruitment and service matters of persons appointed to central civil services and posts, including civilians in defence services. A deemed deputationist still holds a lien on a government post, so this clause covers him even though his work is done for a company.
Section 14(2), Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985
The central government can bring a corporation or society under the tribunal by notification. We are not aware of any such notification for the seven defence companies as of October 2026. Check the current list before assuming that a company's own employees can go to the tribunal.
Sections 20 and 21, Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985
Before filing, the tribunal wants to see that the ministry or company was given a chance to correct the wrong (Section 20). The clock for filing is a year, running from the final rejection or, where nobody answered your appeal, from the end of the six months the department had to answer it (Section 21). A late case survives only if the delay is explained day by day and the explanation is believed.
Rule 37, CCS (Pension) Rules, 2021
This rule deals with a government servant absorbed in a public sector undertaking. On absorption you are treated as retired from government, and the option you made between pro rata pension with gratuity and counting the government service in the company scheme decides how your earlier years are paid for.
Article 226 of the Constitution
The defence companies are wholly owned by the government and count as 'State' under Article 12. Their service decisions can be challenged in a writ before the High Court that has territorial jurisdiction, where no other adequate remedy is available.
Rules that still govern you on deemed deputation
If you did not opt for absorption, your conduct, discipline, leave, pay and pension remain under the central rules: the CCS (Conduct) Rules, 1964, the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965, the Fundamental and Supplementary Rules, the MACP scheme and the CCS (Pension) Rules, 2021 if you are on old pension, or the NPS and UPS rules if you joined from 2004. The company runs the shop floor, but it cannot rewrite these rules for you.
The difficult area is who exercises disciplinary and appellate powers. The ministry delegated some administrative powers to the companies, while other powers stayed with the government side, including the Directorate of Ordnance (Coordination and Services) at Kolkata, which handles much of the residual OFB work. When a chargesheet or penalty arrives, the first thing Advocate B.K. Singh checks is the schedule of powers for that grade on that date. A major penalty imposed by an authority lower than your appointing authority is open to challenge under Article 311(1), whatever the company letterhead says.
Pension for those who retired from the factories is processed through the defence accounts set up, with the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Factories) at Kolkata and the SPARSH system. A retired chargeman or worker whose pension figure is wrong should raise it there first, and then come to the tribunal if the correction does not come.
Disputes that come up most among former OFB staff
- Transfers by the company. Companies have moved deemed deputationists between units and cities. In 2025 the Chennai Bench of the tribunal stayed a transfer order of Group B officers issued by Troop Comforts Limited, as reported in the defence press. A transfer is tested against the government transfer policy that applies to you and against mala fides; see our page on challenging a transfer order.
- MACP and pay fixation left over from before 2021. Upgradations due in 2019, 2020 or 2021 were sometimes delayed or granted at the wrong level during the changeover. These remain government pay claims. Our MACP page sets out the benchmark and the pay matrix rules.
- Promotion and seniority of deemed deputationists. Staff on deemed deputation say company recruits and absorbed colleagues are moving ahead of them. Whether you can claim promotion in the company hierarchy depends on the deputation terms; promotion in your own government cadre is a service matter for the tribunal.
- Absorption option errors. A wrong company allotted, an option form not forwarded, or a pension choice entered wrongly. These are urgent because the window closed in October 2026 for at least one company and the pension option is described as irrevocable.
- Discipline by company officers. Chargesheets issued by an authority that had no power over a deemed deputationist, or appeals decided by the wrong person.
- Pension and gratuity of retirees. Wrong qualifying service, notional increment for 30 June retirees, commutation and recovery from pension. The central government pension page covers these claims in detail.
- Compassionate appointment. When a deemed deputationist dies in service, the family's claim falls under the government scheme, not a company policy. Departments sometimes pass the file between the company and the ministry for months.
If you opted for absorption: what you gave up and what you kept
Absorption ends your government service on the date it takes effect. From that day the company is your employer, its service rules and standing orders govern you, and a later grievance about grade, posting, discipline or promotion is a company matter. Those disputes go to the High Court under Article 226, or to the conciliation machinery and industrial tribunal under the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 if you are a workman and the dispute is an industrial one.
What you kept is your past. The pay you should have drawn as a government servant, MACP that fell due before absorption, and the pension or gratuity worked out for your government years are still claims against the Union of India. If you chose pro rata pension and gratuity for the government period, a mistake in that calculation is a tribunal case. If you chose to carry your service into the company scheme, the government's contribution to that fund and the way it is worked out can also raise a government-side dispute.
Old pension members should read the absorption terms with care. The package as circulated says OPS members are deemed to retire from government on absorption, and that those who take pro rata pension are covered by NPS for the company service. If your option was recorded differently from what you signed, write to the company and the ministry at once, keep the acknowledgement, and take advice before the first pension or contribution entry is made. Our old pension scheme page explains how these options are read.
A made-up case: one employee, two forums
Here's a made-up example. Rakesh Sachan, a chargeman in a Kanpur factory, joined in 2001 and is on the old pension scheme. His second MACP fell due in 2020 but was granted only in 2022, two levels below what he expected, and his representations went unanswered. In October 2026 he opted for absorption in the company that now runs his factory. A month later the company fixed his executive grade lower than that of a colleague with less service.
His MACP claim concerns 2020 to 2022, when he was a government servant. That claim goes to the Allahabad Bench of the tribunal, against the Union of India through the Department of Defence Production, with the company added only because it now holds his records. The grade fixed after absorption is a company decision, and if the company's internal grievance route does not settle it, his remedy is a writ before the Allahabad High Court.
Two forums, two time limits. Advocate B.K. Singh would tell him to file the tribunal case first, since the MACP limitation clock has been running for years, and to put a written grievance to the company on the grade issue at once so that the writ, if needed, does not face a plea of delay.
Working out the forum and getting the case filed
Fix your status on the date of the order
Find your absorption option form, its acknowledgement and any acceptance order. If you have none, you are almost certainly still on deemed deputation. Note the date of the order you want to challenge against your status on that date.
Identify who actually passed the order
Look at the signature block: a company officer, the Directorate at Kolkata, the Department of Defence Production or a defence accounts office. The right respondent and the right appellate authority follow from this.
Use the departmental remedy
For a penalty, file the appeal within 45 days under Rule 23 of the CCS (CCA) Rules. For pay, MACP or pension, send a reasoned representation through proper channel. Keep a dated copy and proof of delivery; Section 20 of the Act will be tested against it.
Count the limitation days
Take the date of the last rejection, or the date six months after your appeal went in if it was never answered, and add a year: that is your outer date under Section 21. Writing a second and third reminder does not move it. Former OFB staff often lost 2022 and 2023 to the confusion of the changeover; if that is your story, the delay application has to show what you did in those months, with letters to prove it.
Choose the bench or the High Court
For a tribunal case, the bench is the one covering the factory where you are posted or the place where the order was made; after retirement, the bench near your home is also open to you. For an absorbed employee's writ, pick the High Court of the state where the company passed the order or where it hits you, usually the state of your unit.
File, serve and press for interim relief if needed
Most benches now take the Original Application through the online portal. The tribunal's own fee is small (Rule 7 of the CAT (Procedure) Rules fixes Rs 50; confirm the present amount and how it is paid with your bench). If the company is about to relieve you for a new station or start cutting your pay, the prayer for interim protection under Section 24 should be in the first filing and mentioned at the first hearing.
Which tribunal bench hears ordnance cases
The factories are spread across the country, so the bench depends on where you work or, for a retiree, where you live. Factories in and around Kolkata go to the Kolkata Bench. Those in Jabalpur, Katni and Itarsi go to the Jabalpur Bench. Avadi and the Tiruchirappalli units go to the Chennai Bench. The Kanpur, Shahjahanpur and other Uttar Pradesh units ordinarily go to the Allahabad Bench, and Medak in Telangana goes to the Hyderabad Bench. Pune, Ambernath, Bhandara, Chandrapur and the Nagpur units fall in Maharashtra and so under the Mumbai Bench; ask whether a circuit sitting is held nearer to you.
Uttarakhand units at Dehradun now come to the Principal Bench at New Delhi, after the 2023 notification that moved Uttarakhand from the Allahabad Bench. A Muradnagar employee in Ghaziabad district is in Uttar Pradesh, so the Allahabad Bench is the ordinary forum. Where a policy decision of the Department of Defence Production in New Delhi is challenged by staff spread over several states, a joint application can be filed at one bench, and a request to move cases under Section 25 is possible.
Writs against the tribunal's order go to a Division Bench of the High Court that has jurisdiction over that bench. A writ directly against a company decision goes to the High Court of the state where the decision was made or where you suffer it.
Time and official cost, stage by stage
| Stage | Time it usually takes | Official cost and notes |
|---|---|---|
| Appeal or representation to the department | Appeal within 45 days of the penalty; the authority has six months before Section 20 lets you file | No fee; speed post or receipt counter, with a copy kept |
| Gathering records from the factory and the company | Two to six weeks, longer if RTI is needed | RTI fee as prescribed; photocopying |
| Drafting and filing the Original Application | Two to four weeks after papers are complete | Rs 50 tribunal fee under Rule 7 (verify with the registry); typing, notary and paper book costs |
| First hearing and notice | Often within a few weeks of filing | Interim relief is considered on urgency |
| Reply by the ministry and company, then your rejoinder | Three to nine months; adjournments are common when two respondents must coordinate | Travel or video hearing costs only |
| Final hearing and order | One to three years from filing, depending on the bench | No further court fee in the tribunal |
| Writ in the High Court (absorbed staff or challenge to a tribunal order) | Admission in weeks; final decision can take years | Court fee under the state's rules, generally modest for writs |
Papers to keep ready
Status papers
- Original appointment letter and confirmation order
- The 2021 order placing you on deemed deputation, and any extension orders you received
- Absorption option form, acknowledgement and acceptance order, if you opted
- Company letters on grade, seniority or posting
Service record
- Service book or e-Service Book extract
- MACP and promotion orders, with pay fixation statements
- APARs for the last five years, if a benchmark is in issue
- Last pay certificate and pay slips around the disputed period
The dispute itself
- The order you want to challenge, with the date you received it
- Your appeal or representation, with proof of delivery
- Any reply, rejection or reminder
- Chargesheet, inquiry report and penalty order in a disciplinary case
For retirees and families
- PPO and SPARSH pension slip
- Gratuity and commutation sanction
- Death certificate and family details for compassionate or family pension claims
Mistakes that cost former OFB staff their case
- Filing a writ for a government-period claim. High Courts usually send service matters of central employees back to the tribunal, following L. Chandra Kumar. You lose months and gain nothing.
- Filing in the tribunal against a company decision after absorption. The tribunal will say it has no jurisdiction over company employees, and by then the delay counts against you in the High Court.
- Suing only the company. For a deemed deputationist, the Union of India through the Department of Defence Production is a necessary party. Leave it out and the order you win may not bind the authority that must pay.
- Waiting for the unions' case to decide yours. Federation cases on absorption do not stop your personal limitation. Advocate B.K. Singh often sees individual MACP and pension claims lost because the employee assumed the federation's petition covered him.
- Signing the absorption option without reading the pension clause. Once accepted, the pension choice is treated as final. A complaint later is very hard to sustain unless the record differs from what you signed.
Retired staff, widows and families
Anyone who retired from a factory before October 2021 is plainly a retired central government servant, and every pension issue goes to the tribunal: revision after the pay commission, notional increment for a 30 June retirement, family pension after the pensioner's death, recovery of excess payment. The Rafiq Masih protection against recovery from Group C retirees applies to them as it does to any other central pensioner.
A deemed deputationist who retires in 2026 or later without absorption also retires from government service. His pension papers go through the government side, not the company, and the company's role is to forward service details and dues. Delay in pension or gratuity attracts interest under Rule 65 of the CCS (Pension) Rules, 2021 where the delay is administrative. Our page on delayed gratuity and interest explains how that claim is made.
Workers on the shop floor: when the labour route opens
Industrial employees of the ordnance factories were always in a slightly different position from office staff. As government servants, their service matters went to the tribunal, but some disputes about wages, incentive and working conditions have also been raised through industrial machinery and the Joint Consultative Machinery.
After absorption, a worker who is a 'workman' under the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 can raise an industrial dispute against the company through conciliation and, failing settlement, before the industrial tribunal. This suits collective issues such as piece work rates or shift allowances better than individual promotion claims. For a deemed deputationist, the tribunal remains the forum for individual service rights.
Officers of the ordnance factories service
Group A officers of the Indian Ordnance Factories Service were also placed with the companies on deemed deputation in 2021. Their cadre, promotions to higher administrative grades, and empanelment remain matters for the ministry, so a dispute over a promotion panel or a cadre review is a government service matter. Officers serving in New Delhi usually file at the Principal Bench; those posted at a factory file at the bench for that state.
Officers face one problem the shop floor does not: the company may want them for a board or functional post that their government grade does not match. Accepting a company post on paper without an absorption order does not change your status, but sign nothing that describes you as a company employee until you have read the terms. Where an officer is denied promotion in the government cadre because his work for the company was not assessed, the APAR route and a review DPC are the usual remedies.
Related pages
The guide on ordnance factory employees after 2021 traces the deemed deputation history order by order. Other defence civilians, such as MES, depot and workshop staff, are covered on our page for civilian staff in defence units. If you are now a company employee and need the High Court route, read service writs for PSU and bank staff. For the tribunal application itself, see filing an Original Application under Section 19.
What to do this week
Find your absorption option papers, or confirm in writing with your unit that you have none on record. Write down the date of the order that hurt you and your status on that date. If a transfer or recovery is about to take effect, do not wait for the department to reply; interim protection is decided on urgency.
Send the documents listed above by WhatsApp or email before a consultation, so the first meeting is spent on the forum and the grounds rather than on sorting papers. Fees are discussed at that meeting and agreed in writing, stage by stage. To have your papers reviewed, or for updates on orders affecting former OFB staff, contact Advocate B.K. Singh.
Frequently asked questions
I am on deemed deputation in a DPSU. Can I still go to CAT?
Yes. Until absorption you remain a central government servant, so your service matters fall under Section 14(1) of the Administrative Tribunals Act. The tribunal has heard transfer and other cases of such staff since 2021.
I accepted absorption in October 2026. Where do I challenge the company's new grade for me?
A company decision after absorption is challenged in the High Court under Article 226, after using any internal grievance route. If you are a workman and the issue is an industrial dispute, the conciliation machinery under the Industrial Relations Code is another option.
Can I take back my absorption option?
The circulated terms describe the pension option as final and irrevocable. Withdrawal is possible only if the company's order allows it before acceptance, or if the record differs from what you signed. Raise any error in writing at once.
Who pays my pension if I retired from an ordnance factory in 2019?
The government. Your pension is a central civil pension handled through the defence accounts office for factories and the SPARSH system, and disputes about it go to the tribunal.
My MACP was due in 2020 and I am now a company employee. Is it too late?
The claim concerns your government service, so it goes to the tribunal. Pay arrears are often limited to about three years before filing, though the arrears rule for pensions is now unsettled, so file without further delay.
Can a company officer suspend or chargesheet a deemed deputationist?
Only if the delegation of powers for your grade allows it. A major penalty must come from an authority not lower than your appointing authority under Article 311(1). Check the delegation order in force on the date of the chargesheet.
Which CAT bench should a worker from Avadi approach?
Avadi is in Tamil Nadu, so the Chennai Bench of the tribunal. A retired worker who has moved can file where he now ordinarily lives.
Do I need to wait six months after my representation?
Section 20 asks you to give the department a fair chance, usually six months. If the matter is urgent, such as a transfer being enforced, the tribunal can admit the case earlier with reasons shown.