New Delhi: The Supreme Court bench led by the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Monday ordered the Ministry of Defense to immediately withdraw its 20th January communication according to which the government would pay OROP arrears in four installments. The bench also comprising Justice PS Narasimha and Justice JB Pardiwala pulled up the government and told the Attorney General of India, R Venkatramani, to "ensure that the Defense Ministry does not attempt to take law into its own hands".
The government told the court that it has paid one installment of OROP arrears but requires more time to complete the rest of the payment of arrears. "First withdraw your January 20 communication on payment of OROP arrears, then we will consider your application for more time," said the court.
The court slammed the government and said that the 20th January communication was violative of the apex court's order and it can not be unilaterally taking the decision of paying arrears in four installments. The court asked AG Venkatramani to provide a roadmap for the rest of the payment of OROP arrears by next Monday.
"Show us the note on Monday. How much is left, what is the prioritization, the oldest people, widows, etc. can be taken into account," said the court. "We want that there has to be some kind of categorization and older people should be paid the arrears first. Over four lakh pensioners have died since the litigation started," the court added.
The court was hearing a plea filed by Indian Ex-servicemen Movement(IESM) challenging the government's 20th January communication. In the last hearing as well the court had pulled up the Ministry and had asked the Secretary to file a personal affidavit explaining why such communication was issued contradictory to the court's orders.
Back in March 2022, the court upheld the OROP scheme of the center but directed that the refixation exercise must be conducted by the center for a period of 5 years. It had said that the arrears should be cleared in 3 months but had later on granted an extension. However, the center went ahead and issued its own communication saying that it will make payments in 4 installations. Challenging the communication, ex-servicemen then moved to the top court.
