OROP Supreme Court Latest News: SC upholds govt’s decision on One Rank One Pension
The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the Union government’s decision on One Rank One Pension (OROP) for defence forces, saying it did not come across any “constitutional infirmity” in the manner in which it was being implemented.
The apex court made this observation on a plea by ex-servicemen association seeking implementation of One Rank-One Pension as recommended by the Bhagat Singh Koshyari Committee.
According to reports, the Committee has recommended an automatic annual revision, instead of the current policy of periodic review once in five years.
A three-judge bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant and Vikram Nath observed that there is no legal mandate that everyone who held the same rank must have the same pension, adding that the scheme was a policy decision taken by the Central government and the government was empowered to do so, it was held.
The bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant and Vikram Nath refused to accept the challenge made by the association “Indian Ex-Service Movement” against the 2015 notification issued by the Centre.
“The Central government has taken a policy decision. Such a decision lies within the ambit of policymaking powers of the government. . We find no constitutional infirmity in the OROP principle adopted”, the bench said in the judgment pronounced today.
The bench has however directed that the re-fixation exercise as per the policy should be carried out with effect from July 1, 2019 and the arrears should be paid to the pensioners within 3 months.
No legal mandate that pensioners who hold same rank must be given same pension
The top court, however, said the government must conduct a refixation exercise for a period of 5 years with regard to pension payable to Army personnel as stated in the OROP policy in accordance with the November 7, 2015 notification.
Follow us on Telegram Channel, Twitter and Facebook for all the latest updates
