Centre allows equal pension to all retired major generals after decade-old battle

The Centre has agreed to pay equal pension to all retired major generals and equivalent ranks after a long legal battle over pay disparity.

In a major breakthrough after a 10-year-old battle, the Centre has told the Supreme Court that all retired major generals and equivalent ranks in the Army, Navy and Air Force, whether they retired before or after 1996, will get equal pension. The government told the Supreme Court on Tuesday, April 24, that it had decided to grant similar pension benefits to all Major Generals and equivalent ranks, following a petition by Retired Major General SPS Vains through Senior Advocate Nidhesh Gupta.

What Was the Fight About?

The issue dates back to the Fifth Pay Commission that submitted its report in 1996 with anomalies in pension payouts. A case was filed in 2001 in the Punjab and Haryana High Court by pre-1996 retirees seeking parity with post-January 1, 1996, retirees.

In 2008, the Supreme Court ruled that “the pay of all pensioners in the rank of major general and its equivalent rank in the other two wings of the defence services be notionally fixed at the rate given to similar officers of the same rank after the revision of pay scales with effect from January 1, 1996.” However, according to the petitioners, the government delayed the implementation of the same under One Rank One Pension (OROP) despite the SC ruling.

The Sixth Pay Commission in 2006 again created a disparity between pre-2006 and post-January 1, 2006, retirees. The Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) ruled in favour of pre-2006 retirees and the verdict was challenged by the government. Once the 2008 verdict came in favour of the pensioners, the Government implemented it only with regard to those who were petitioners before the AFT. The benefit was not extended to other similarly placed Major Generals, resulting in a decade old legal battle.

Retired Major General S P S Vains through Senior advocate Nidhesh Gupta, had sought implementation of One Rank, One Pension (OROP) scheme for retired armed forces personnel. “Most shockingly, despite report of the Koshiyari committee and the decision of the SC in Union of India vs SPS Vains, the government delayed the implementation of the OROP in utter violation of the constitution and rule of law,” the petitioners plea had mentioned, according to a report in The New Indian Express.

The Decision Now

According to a report in The Tribune, Senior Advocate Gupta argued that it was a well-settled principle of service jurisprudence that all similarly placed persons should be given the relief and each one of them should not be forced to approach the court. The Supreme Court accepted the argument. A bench comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud has directed the Centre to comply with its decision in three months and award equal pension to all major generals and equivalent ranks, whether they retired before or after 1996.

Featured image: Army veterans at the OROP protests, demanding pay parity (Pic courtesy: Wikimedia Commons/Rediff.com)