OROP: Legal Help

Mr Dushyant Dave, President of SCBA (Supreme Court Bar Association ) has said that all 21 Lawyers of the SCBA are ready to represent the Veterans in SC on OROP Pro- Bono (Pro-Bono means without cost to the applicant).

Also, There is an IMPORTANT MESSAGE in the  RETIRED BANKERS GOOGLE  BLOG  :

Dear friends,

It is surprising that a land mark judgment delivered by the Supreme Court of India on 01 07 2015, Civil Appeal no. 1123 of 2015 has gone unnoticed and except for a brief letter from Shri S R Sen Gupta , Secretary to IBA ( Indian Banker's Association ), no other union or organisation  has taken any steps. The salient features of the judgement are:

1. The bench has authoritatively ruled that Pension is a right and the payment of it does not depend upon the discretion of the Government. Pension is governed by rules and a Government Servant coming within those rules is entitled to claim pension.

2.The judgement has recognised that the revision of pension and revision of pay scales are INSEPARABLE.

3.The bench has reiterated that on revision the Basic pension cannot be less than 50% of the Basic Pension in the minimum of the Pay Band in the revised scale corresponding to the pre-revised scale.

4.The government CANNOT take a plea of financial burden to deny legitimate dues of the pensioners.  Pension is a moral and contractual commitment by the Govt to all its eligible employees, and cannot be reneged upon under any pretext. Govt cannot indulge in acts of breach of faith and breach of contract.

5.The Government SHOULD AVOID unwarranted litigation and not to encourage any litigation for the sake of litigation.

 

6. When pension is upheld to be a RIGHT and NOT A BOUNTY, as a corollary to the averment that revision of pension and revision of pay scales are INSEPARABLE, upgradation of pension is also A RIGHT AND NOT A BOUNTY.

THIS JUDGEMENT IS BASED ON THE DECISION ON D S NAKARA CASE.
The above details are available in the latest issue of Canara Bank Retired Officer's Association Circular no 3/2016 dated 1st August 2015.

The judgement is very lucid and clear, and it is perplexing as to  how no one has noticed these important parameters and Principles governing the Pensions, and why no one has taken up the matter with the Govt.

While Ex Servicemen agitation is on , why can't they  take Legal Recourse , also as Supreme Court advocates are offering their services. This is one ruling by SC that can compel the Govt that they cannot  deny pension revision every year for lack of funds or on any other perceived administrative grounds, nor can they deny the OROP to VRS/PMR cases, when they are already  eligible  for basic pension. Deprivation and Arbitrariness, both are questionable in court of law and need to be subjected to Judicial scrutiny.

This is one idea that really need to be passed around and the option considered by the Armed Forces and the Ex Servicemen.

-- MS Krishnan.

 

 

 

Mail by Wg Cdr  A B Bhushan (Retd)

16 September 2015 at 05:33, Avula Bharath Bhushan avulab@hotmail.com

[TriServiceVeteransIndia]