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| Pre-1996 retd Army Med officers to return excess pension: SC | | |
New Delhi
In a setback to retirees before 1996, the Supreme Court has held that Govt may recover from the Army Medical Officers the pension money calculated on the basis of non-practising allowance (NPA), which formed part of the salary during their service.
The fall out of the judgement is that the retirees stand to lose the excess pension money they have received since September 2001 which was calculated taking into account their NPA as part of their salary.
A Bench comprising Justice G P Mathur and Justice R V Raveendran did not agree with the contention of pre-1996 retirees that disparity that existed between the medical and non-medical officers of the same rank would be maintained if the NPA was not considered in determining the pension.
"When the purpose of stepping up pensions is to ensure that all retirees of the same rank get pension which is not less than the prescribed minimum, it would be unjust for a section to say that merely because they were earlier enjoying a higher pension than others of the same rank, such disparity should be continued, even after stepping up," the Bench said.
"When the object of stepping up of pensions is to bring in parity and avoid disparity, the claim of petitioners that disparity should be continued cannot be accepted," the Bench comprising Justice G P Mathur and Justice R V Raveendran observed, dimissing a bunch of writ petitions.
The retirees had challenged the 11th September 2001 circular of Defence Ministry issued as a clarification to June 7, 1999 circular which provided for revision of pensions.
By the 1999 circular it was said that in no case of the Armed Forces' pensioners, irrespective of their date of retirement, it should be less than 50 per cent of the minimum revised pay scale.
The 2001 circular clarified that NPA was not to be taken into consideration after re-fixation of pay on notional basis on 1st January 1986.
The petitioners challenged it as unauthorized modification of President's decision contained in circular dated 7th June 1999 and opposed to the rule that in the case of Medical Officers, pay includes NPA for all purpose.
The petitioners including retired Lt Gen R K Upadhyay and Colonel B J Akkara had contended that adding NPA to the basic pay for arriving at the pensions for those retired on or after 1st January 1996 and ommiting to add it in case of pre-1996 retirees amounts to hostile discrimination and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution.
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