Supreme Court order On Pension Updation

16.07.2019

Dear retirees of PS GIC/LIC/BANKS,

The above attached is a reportable Hon'ble Supreme Court of India Judgment dated 11.07.2019 (All Manipur Pensioners Association vrs The State of Manipur). 'REPORTABLE' legally means that this Hon'ble Supreme Court of India Judgment dated 11.07.2019 has become the law of the Land. It is the latest and final Hon'ble Supreme Court Judgment dated 11.07.2019 over previous Judgments, if any, on the same dispute or controversy of pension revision/ pension updation so far. It is in practice of the Hon'ble Supreme Court that in case, there exist various Judgments of the Hon'ble Supreme Court on the same issue or dispute or controversy contradictory to each other, the latest and final Judgment is always considered for reference to conclude any fresh Judgment on the same controversy in the future. Therefore, it is my humble request to all that our any Association/ Union in PS GI Companies/ LIC /Banks must take the best possible legal advantage of this Hon'ble Supreme Court Judgment dated 11.07.2019 in our pending cases in the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India or High Court relating to pension revision/ pension updation every five years.

Please read this Hon'ble Supreme Court Judgment dated 11.07.2019 thoroughly and particularly its Paragraphs 7.2, 7.4, 8, 8.1 & 9. In this Judgment, the Hon'ble Supreme Court has actually extended the ambit of its own earlier Judgment in D S Nakara's case and ordered in this Judgment in favour of pensioners who have retired from service prior to any pay revision date, to pay revised pension from time to time simultaneously with revised pension paid to other retirees due to pay revision/ revised pay scales for employees, who also retire from service any day and, thus, he/she has been getting an increased quantum of pension after his/her retirement from service comparing to those retirees who have retired prior to the same effective date of any pay revision. It is, thus, a very clear and detailed Hon'ble Supreme Court of India Judgment dated 11.07.2019 in favour of all the pensioners to get revised pension from time to time, if pension is revised for other retirees post any retirement date. As per this Hon’ble Supreme Court Judgment, all the pensioners are equally situated to get revised pension as the increased cost of living similarly affects all the retirees irrespective of his/her date of retirement from service. Further, consequent to this Judgment, the Employer cannot take the plea that all the pensioners under the same Statutory Pension Scheme cannot be treated equals or at par due to financial constraint of the Employer. The Employer now cannot impose any cut-off date to create two classes of pensioners to pay revised pension to the pensioners with effect from any retirement date from service and at the same time to deny the same revised pension to the pensioners who have retired prior to the same date of retirement from service. Such an act of the Employer to discriminate the pensioners on the basis of his/her retirement date from service would now be a Contempt of this Hon'ble Supreme Court Judgment dated 11.07.2019, which please note.

Therefore, the anamolies existing in paragraphs 3-A & 3-B in APPENDIX-IV of the Statutory General Insurance (Employees') Pension Scheme 1995 and similar paragraphs in the Statutory Pension Scheme 1995 in PS LIC/Banks should now be removed by Government of India by obeying the Order of this particular Hon'ble Supreme Court Judgment dated 11.07.2019. The wordings used in the amendment dated 22.06.2000 i.e. insertion of paragraphs 3-A & 3-B in APPENDIX-IV in our Statutory Pension Scheme 1995 after the same pension scheme was originally notified in the year 1995, is now unlawful and is a Contempt of this Hon'ble Supreme Court Judgment dated 11.07.2019. The word 'employee' appearing in paragraph 3-B in APPENDIX-IV should now be replaced by the word 'employee and retiree including retiree under SVRS, SVRP, GGSVS etc.', otherwise the paragraphs 3-A & 3-B in APPENDIX-IV are clear contempt of this Hon'ble Supreme Court Judgment dated 11.07.2019, arbitrary, discriminatory and also violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India as per this Hon'ble Supreme Court Judgment dated 11.07.2019, which please note.

The hidden adverse effect of paragraphs 3-A & 3-B in APPENDIX-IV of the Statutory Pension Scheme 1995 is that if you convert the DA/DR increase per slab into percentage terms on the effective date of any Pay Revision, you will find that post such effective pay revision date the increase in quantum of pension percentage wise is higher than the increase in quantum of pension for retirees who have retired from service prior to the same effective pay revision date, whereas the cost of living is increased just similarly for all the retirees irrespective of date of retirement from service.

Paragraphs 3-A & 3-B in APPENDIX-IV are appended hereinbelow for the information of all pensioners of PS GI Companies/LIC/Banks :

(3-A)   In the case of employees who have retired or died on or after the 1st day of August, 1997, the dearness relief shall be payable for every rise or be recoverable for every fall, as the case may be, of every four points over 1740 points in the quarterly Average Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers in the series 1960=100. Such increase or decrease in dearness relief for every said four points shall be at the rate of 0.23 percent of basic pension.

(3-B)   In case of any wage revision in future the rate of dearness relief payable to an employee shall be determined by the Corporation corresponding to the index to which the scales will be linked.

Paragraphs (3-A) and (3-B) in APPENDIX-IV have been inserted later on in the Statutory General Insurance (Employees') Pension Scheme 1995 vide S.O. 590(E) dated 22.6.2000 with effect from 01.8.1997 and the same paragraphs were not existing in the original Statutory Pension Scheme of 1995.

Last but not the least, each pensioner of PS GI Companies/LIC /Banks from all over India should send his/her strong letter/ representation immediately to their respective Chairman/CMD/MD with copies to the Hon'ble Finance Minister, Department of Financial Services, Government of India, New Delhi with a request to ensure that any PS GI Company or LIC or Bank must not commit Contempt of this Hon'ble Supreme Court Judgment dated 11.07.2019 in any manner. Any law professional should come forward in our Group and prepare the same draft letter to help all the pensioners in this endeavour.

Thanks & Regards,
Pramod Srivastava (Pune)


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Following is the link related to an article published on the issue

https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/classification-of-pensioners-by-providing-cut-off-date-146278