New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday, expressing its anguish at the Centre, said retired regular captains of the Army get no solace due to a delay in a decision regarding their pension in accordance with the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme, and stressed, "they are retired captains", and "they have no say. They have no access to you people".
A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and R Mahadevan made it clear to the Centre's counsel that telling the court various reasons for the delay would be a tough sell, and said, "Either you pay an enhanced pension by 10 per cent or we are imposing a cost on you".
The apex court imposed a cost of Rs two lakh on the Centre and directed that it should be deposited in the welfare funds of the Army. The bench cautioned the government that if it fails to take a decision by November 14, then it will direct an enhanced pension by 10 per cent to the retired regular captains. The bench said the Centre will have to resolve all anomalies in connection with the pension of such retired officers under the scheme.
During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, representing the Centre, submitted that six anomalies have been pointed out by the Kochi bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT). She said these anomalies need to be rectified, but the government is yet to take a stand in the matter.
Pointing that the matter had come up in 2021, the bench made it clear it is not happy with the matter dragging on for many years and the government has failed to take a timely decision in the matter. Bhati contended that the government will have to look at the issue holistically and consider all the six anomalies, as the decision may affect others, and emphasised that a piecemeal decision would not resolve the issue.
The bench said it is not inclined to give any more time to the Centre and it will direct an enhanced pension to these retired officers. "All I can do is tender my apology. Please give us one more chance, we will take a decision in this regard. We will file an affidavit in this regard”, said Bhati, requesting the court give three months to take a decision in the matter.
At this juncture, Justice Khanna said, "What is this? If the government is not taking a decision, I cannot do anything. This does not give solace to these officers. They are retired captains. They have no say. They have no access to you people….".
The bench said the Centre will either have to pay a cost or it should start paying 10 per cent more and added that it will dictate the order in the matter. Bhati asked the bench to impose a cost because that will serve equity better than enhanced pension.
Concluding the proceedings, the bench said the Centre has time till November 14, which will be the last opportunity, and imposed a cost of Rs two lakh, which should be deposited in the welfare fund of the armed forces in four weeks. The apex court has scheduled the matter for further hearing on November 25.
In the previous hearing, the top court said that in December 2021, the regional bench of the AFT had passed an order. According to the AFT's order, the government was supposed to take a decision on the pension payable to the retired regular captains, noticing that there was an anomaly, which required to be resolved for the implementation of OROP. The Centre moved the apex court against this decision and impleaded 13 retired regular captains as a party to the dispute.
