The Babu's Venom with Military pension

The Babu's Venom with Military pension: By L t Gen PG Kamath, PVSM,AVSM,YSM, SM (Veteran)

Here is a real story of the Great Babu during the third pay commission, who stabbed the soldiers in their back. Babu's venom is far more poisonous than that of Cobra. The sad fete of Indian Armed Forces in a strong democracy like India. Neither babus nor politicians wanted powerful India. By lowering national military personnel morale, national security being compromised by the politician and babu nexus.. Well written by veteran Lt Gen PG Kamath, PBSM,AVSM,YSM,SM

It was post 1971 and the nation was euphoric. Our countrymen were lauding the Indian Armed Forces for a spectacular victory that had changed the geography of the sub-continent. The nation was savouring the victory and more than 97,368 prisoners were in our Prisoners of War Camps. It was the second largest surrender in the Military History; second only to the surrender of Gen Von Paulus, German, 6th Army at Stalingrad in the Second World War. The Armed Forces were feted everywhere for its courage and the people were convinced that it was one instrument that would never let the country down.Amidst this euphoria there were 4000 families, who had lost their fathers/sons/husbands in the war. Another 10,000 were wounded and maimed for life. They were picking up the lost threads of life to continue their journey in the forbidding world. However their sorrow was lost amidst the mirth, laughter and jubilation of victory.

Unknown to the services a band of bureaucrats were conspiring as to how to cut the Armed Forces to size. Defence Secretary was Mr K B Lal, who was literally there for the entire duration of the Third Pay Commission. He was the one, who provided the inputs to the Third Pay Commission. The Commission was constituted a year before the war and concluded two years after the war. It’s final recommendation marginalising the Armed Forces was made public two months after Fd Marshal Manekshaw relinquished the post of Chief. Indeed it was a clever move as the most popular person in the country was not able to take cudgels against the government. This Pay Commission cut the Armed Forces to size for winning the war for the country. Even Fd Mshl Manekshaw was not spared; more of it later. ‘Ingratitude unkinder than the winters wind’ to adopt Shakespearean phrase to an ungrateful government. How did the Government go about the act?

Firstly they abolished a separate Pay Commission for the Armed Forces and formulated an equivalence between the Armed Forces and Civilians. It was here that the Pay Commission struck its vilest blow when they considered that ‘a trained infantry soldier with three years of service is below a skilled labour. Little do they know that it is the infantry soldier who does the actual fighting and charges the enemy with naked bayonet literally on the very front edge of the battle and makes eye and steel contact with the enemy. He is the one who bears the brunt of more than 90% of casualty in all wars and yet he was considered the lowest strata to base their comparison. It also means that the infantry soldier with less than three years’ service was considered an semi-skilled/unskilled labour? Just mark the irony of the sinister and ignorant move? Rest of the soldiers were equated based on this preposterous formulae?

Next step was to reduce the percentage of pension for the Armed Forces. The OROP that was effective till 1972, was annulled after the third pay commission. A soldier then served only for 15 years and went on pension at the ages ranging from 33 years to 36 years of age. In view of this, his pension was 70% of his basic pay and an officers pension was 50% of his basic pay as the bulk of them retired at 50 years of age. The civilian counterparts were getting only 30% of their basic pay as pension. Please note they served till they were 58 years of age (now 60 years) and the soldiers retired a quarter century earlier. The wretched Third Pay Commission did not consider the additional 25 years of service his civilian counterpart served and raised their pension to 50% and reduced a soldiers pension from 70% to 50% in order to achieve the so-called parity. Further the government put mandatory 33 years of service for full pension fully knowing that the soldier then retired after 15 years of service. They further as a largesse made a seemingly generous gesture to the Armed Forces by pegging the mandatory service for full pension (50%) to 25 years. Just look at the clever move; fully knowing that the soldier retired after 15 years of service. Thus the soldier in effect got only 30% of pay after 15 years of service, as extrapolated from full pension of 50% of pay with 25 years of service. Thus the Government ingeniously cut a soldiers pension from 70% to 30% of pay at the same time enhancing the civilian pension from 30% to 50%. Look at the perfidy; how can possibly a Government run down her own Armed Forces? It is indeed a remarkable feat from a nation that was a slave nation for over two centuries, yet disregards her Armed Forces who ensure her hard earned freedom?

Our Defence Ministry were hand in glove with the proposals. There was not a whimper of protest to set right the injustice. The soldiers had to pay heavily for having won the war for the country. Their travails were not over; more was yet to come!

One would wonder why the soldiers did not protest against the brash injustice perpetrated on them? It would be difficult to believe, as those were the times the officers in particular were told that politics and pay were not to be discussed. They were naïve and had full faith in the government that in the long run; no injustice would be done to them? The disarming naivety of our officers appear incomprehensible now; but it was true then. Hence the entire master stroke of cutting the armed forces to size by impoverishing them was done with so much of dexterity, it took us couple of decades to realise its negative impact.

Mrs Gandhi was feted and was called ‘Durga’ and she basked in the limelight of victory and self-adulation. However, she proved to be the daughter of her illustrious father by sharing the same antipathy and disdain towards the Armed Forces. She was a smart women hence concealed it to a great extent with outer façade of support and derived maximum political mileage of the victory. The running down of the Armed Forces in the Third Pay Commission could not have been done without her active and positive consent?

Their next target was the most popular figure in the country Fd Marshal Manekshaw. He was made a Field Marshall and the appointment is active for life, though ceremonial in nature. A Field Marshall does not retire and continues to wear his five star rank for life. He was entitled to Pay and Allowances for life. The bureaucrats who were literally jealous of his popularity ensured that he did not get his pay and allowances; low and behold! for the next 36 years, and finally a lump sum of ₹ 1.60 crore of arrears was released to him on intervention by then President Abdul Kalam. A non-descript bureaucrat gave him his pension dues on his deathbed in Jun 2007 a few days before he breathed his last. Isn’t it a national tragedy? Don’t you sometimes feel whether the country deserves selfless service from its soldiers? Can any country on this earth be more ungrateful towards her soldiers than ‘Mother India? What a great victory for the MOD for destroying the soldiers pride?

Let us now analyse as to why a soldier fights? Why does he give his life for a cause? What makes him charge through a fusillade of bullets and splinters against sure death and injury overcoming the instinct of self-preservation? Why is he prepared to make his ultimate sacrifice and bid goodbye to the world? Why does he not think of his loving wife, his innocent children, his aged parents and the living world of mirth and bliss; knowing he has not even spent a quarter of his life? Why all his near and dear ones pale in to insignificance and he sees only his mission like Arjuna only seeing the eye of the bird? All these questions can be answered in two words; His Pride.

It is his professional pride that make him a hero. He wants to be a hero before his comrades; before his superiors, in his unit and in his country. He is a hero of his village and hero in front of his parents. He is a hero to his wife and a super hero to his children. He also knows he is the last bastion of the nation and he is the last trump card in the hands of his nation. He knows that if he fails the nation fails. It is this emotion that drives him towards mission accomplishment. It is all the way Pride! Pride! And Pride. It is nothing else but ‘Pride’.Sad to say; it is exactly that the Governments of his own country wants to deprive him of? He has been badgered, humiliated, impoverished and made a laughing stock in all the successive pay commissions. His status has been lowered time and again by an insensitive government. How can noble thoughts like sacrifice, mission, cause, patriotism and pride be ever understood by self-serving, sly and scheming bureaucracy? A soldiers pride has taken a beating and believe me sir! It would be a long and painful time to build it again?

Mr Prime Minister! Before you forget history; In Jun 1932 President Herbert Hoover, the 31st President of US ordered firing on the veterans of First World War for demanding the promised bonus. Two veterans were killed and several injured. Herbart Hoover lost the election with a devastating defeat and has gone down in history as a lack lustre President. The Great Depression may have contributed to his rout but the firing on veterans brought him great disrepute. Mr Prime Minister! You are certainly made of a better stuff than Herbert Hoover? 

Enough has been said of ‘OROP’ and nothing more needs to be said about it. Supreme court has granted it and parliamentary committee has approved it. Not a single political party has opposed it but it is still undone? For the past 70 days agitation is on and brute force of police has been unleashed on them. Dear Prime Minister! I hope you have seen the sad picture of a proud veteran trying to fight his tears and another veteran whose shirt with medals torn asunder withstands the criminal use of force against him with quiet dignity and equanimity. It is still not too late to make amends.

Reminds me the words of Edmond Burke “ Invention is exhausted, Reason is fatigued, Experience has given its judgement but Obstinacy remains unconquered”. Mr Prime Minister ! I believe you have still the ability to overrule small minions around you, who do not have the nation in their heart and are bent upon the murdering the ‘ Pride in a Soldier’. Remember ‘Soldiers’ Pride is Nation’s Security’. You kill his pride; you endanger the nation’s security...

#OROP Messed up - False Mathematics of OROP Exposed

#OROP Messed up

False Mathematics of OROP Exposed 

Karan Kharb

Satyagraha, agitation and public demonstration of resentment do not go well with military ethos, much less the frequently traded politics of violence and coercive tactics like rail/rasta roko campaigns. Even though the traditional awe inspiring chivalrous image of the soldiery has been greatly dented in India, the public still looks upon its soldiers as men of very high discipline, sense of duty, commitment and valour who would spontaneously respond to their call without caring for their own safety and comfort whenever required. Trusting and respecting the authority has been ingrained in the soldier’s conscience for ages and they take the leader’s countenance on its face value.  Ironically, it was 1973, soon after the historic victory in 1971 when India’s military might dismembered Pakistan and niched a new nation – Bangladesh – on the world map, that the pension scales of military personnel were ruthlessly slashed by 30 per cent as a consequence of the 3rd Pay Commission recommendations. To rub salt on this cut, civil pension scales were raised by 20 per cent. What a reward for the resounding victory! Military men groaned and whined privately but endured it and moved on!

Through the successive years, military personnel continued losing their privileges, status, salary and pension. The Ex-servicemen felt short-changed with each successive Pay Commission. The 6th Pay Commission report added fuel to the already simmering ire of the ex-servicemen. Their quiet representations failed to fructify despite courts and authorities finding their demands genuine and reasonable. They started raising their voice against this injustice. In every case that went to the court, the judiciary upheld their case and indicted the official dispensation. Yet, instead of one rank one pension (OROP), what they received from the UPA government was a ferrying point from ‘disparity’ to ‘modified parity’ as if both were synonyms of equality.  Col (retd) Inderjit Singh, an octogenarian torch bearer of one rank one pension (OROP) agitation today along with Lt Gen (retd) Balbir Singh and Maj Gen (retd) Satbir Singh, says he has made presentations to all the Defence Ministers and Prime Ministers since the days of Indira Gandhi.  They all agreed but forty two years on the 2.5 million ESM are still waiting to get their dues. The mood of the ESM was becoming rebellious and needed to be channelized into a peaceful movement.

Eminent Ex-servicemen organisations like the Indian Ex-Services League (IESL) and the Indian Ex-servicemen Movement (IESM) led by Lt Gen Balbir Singh (retd) and Maj Gen Satbir Singh (retd) respectively became the rallying points for the anguished Ex-servicemen of the country. IESL, founded in 1964 enjoys the honour of having celebrities like Gen KS Thimaya and Field Marshal KM Cariappa as its first two Presidents. Although demonstrations and protest marches by the ESM were earlier led by Lt Gen Raj Kadyan (retd) since 2007, the United Front of Ex-servicemen (UFESM) was formed only recently by rallying together the state units of ESM organisations under the aegis of IESL and IESM to spearhead the OROP Movement in a united peaceful and non-violent manner.

Taking note of the growing anguish among the ESM and the Armed Forces at the widening pension disparities, the Rajya Sabha constituted a Parliamentary Committee in 2010 to look into the petitions and make specific recommendations. The Parliamentary Committee, that came to be famously known as the Koshyari Committee deriving the name from its Chairman, BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, recorded, “there is merit in the demand for One Rank One Pension by Armed Forces Personnel” and strongly recommended that, “Government should implement OROP in the defence forces across the board at the earliest and further that for future, the pay, allowances, pension, family pension, etc. in respect of the defence personnel should be determined by a separate commission so that their peculiar terms.” These recommendations were unanimously accepted and approved by the Parliament in 2011. However, only crumbs were served to the ex-soldiers in the name of OROP and not even a military member was taken in the 7th Pay Commission, let alone a separate Commission for the Armed Forces. The UPA government did try to pacify the irate ESM by narrowing the gap between the new and old pensioners in 2010 and 2013. In what was then seen as a dirty trick to divide officers and junior commissioned officers and other ranks (JCOs/OR), the UPA government nearly bridged the gaps only in respect of JCOs/OR leaving the officers’ case unaddressed. Military bonding being what it is, the unity could not be breached and the joint struggle for OROP continued. In its last days in office, the UPA Government (MoD) issued a letter on 26 Feb 2014 to the three Chiefs of the Armed Forces defining OROP in explicit terms: “OROP implies that uniform pension be paid to the Armed Forces personnel retiring in the same rank with the same length of service irrespective of their date of retirement and any future enhancement in the rates of pension to be automatically passed on to the past pensioners.”

During the pre-election campaign, the BJP leaders had repeated derided the UPA Government for giving ex-soldiers the short-shrift and Narendra Modi, the would be Prime Minister, assured that he would implement OROP soon after forming his government at the Centre.  His blitzkrieg visits to military stations inspired a new enthusiasm among the military personnel. Last year he celebrated his Diwali with the troops at Siachen Glacier where he declared, “I am proud and happy that Providence has destined OROP to be delivered through my hands.” More than a year and a half of the Modi Sarkar in office, however, yielded nothing except promises now punctuated with complexities and huge financial burden. Economists and bureaucrats joined in to work out daunting figures that apparently scared the Prime Minister himself. Is the financial burden of OROP really as scary as it is being made out to be? Thorough analysis of the military pension bill reveals that the exaggeration is nothing but a propaganda to deny the soldiery what is their rightful due as is evident from the details of the Defence Pension Bill explained below.

Financial Mole Hill, Not a Mountain!  

Initial pay-out of OROP including arrears earlier assumed to take effect at the ‘top of the scale’ as on April 1, 2004 and if paid on April 1, 2015 stood at Rs 8,294 crore. Whereas the ongoing delay in implementation would have marginally bloated this amount, it would now be considerably reduced in view of the Government proposing to calculate OROP dues at the average of pension rates that existed in calendar year 2013. Further, the roll out is also proposed to be effective not from April 1 but July 1, 2014. By this decision the Government the projected OROP budget will be further reduced by approximately Rs 2100 crore. Adding the previously budgeted and unspent amount of Rs 1000 crore to it, an amount of Rs 3100 crore could be reduced from Rs 8300 crore estimated in the table below. Yet, the arbitrary figures ranging from Rs 10,000 crore to 22,000 crore have been extravagantly and quite frequently fed to the media and public magnifying a financial mole hill as if it were an unsurmountable mountain.  It is, therefore, necessary to remove this illusion of so-called ‘unaffordable financial burden’ by explaining the primary figures of military pension vis-à-vis the future effect of OROP:-

Ser No	Details	Amount (in INR crores)
	Total ‘Defence Pensions’ Budget (2014-15) (a)                        Share of Defence Civilians (37%) (b)                        Share of Armed Forces Pensioners (63%)	54500 20165 34335
	Subtract one time pay-outs like Gratuity, Leave encashment, commutation etc	15000 1
	Net Pension load as it exists in pre-OROP budget	19335
	Total OROP rounded up to nearest thousand (Initial outgo including arrears assuming 01 April 2014 as effective date from which dues become payable)	8300 2
	Enhanced OROP share for the next year (0.85% of serial 3)	164 3

Notes:-

1. One time pay out includes pensioner’s gratuity and allied entitlements which are neither part of OROP not affected by increase/decrease in OROP. 
2. Now with effective date being 01 Jul 2014 and OROP being fixed at average of maximum and minimum scales of pension paid during calendar year 2013, this amount will substantially reduce by approximately Rs 2100 crore!)
3. This amount is estimated to decline @ 1/5th every year until the net OROP effect becomes Zero in the 5th

Amusing as it might appear to some learned analysts, the OROP burden will decline every successive year rather than escalating. Normal escalation rate of pension budget shall, of course, continue to be determined by other existing factors other than the OROP incremental effect. It might appear strange to those who have heard that every year thousands of military pensioners are added to the existing 2.6 million and, therefore, so much more pension burden is added to the annual pension budget. But there is a catch in it. The 6th Pay Commission had resorted to ‘bunching’ of service seniority of military personnel in different trades for the purpose of fixing their pay scales in respective pay band. As a consequence, these personnel are now retiring drawing pension at the ‘bunched’ scale despite the number of their years in service being different. These bunched categories are now in their last leg of service and would taper off in another 4-5 years. Thanks to this ‘bunching effect’, the enhanced proportion of OROP will diminish rather than escalate every year.

Civil-Military Trust Deficit   

Much has been made of the OROP demand by the bureaucratic machinations to paint it as an unreasonable and, therefore, undeserved demand of country’s 2.6 million ex-soldiers, war widows, war wounded and battle disabled.  Selective leaks from official sources clearly indicate an organised attempt to deny the Armed Forces their basic due. Last minute insertion of ‘VRS’ in the Defence Minister’s press release on September 5 is the latest example of innumerable mischiefs that happen insidiously as a routine at the MoD.  The government had been consulting Lt Gen Balbir Singh (retd) and Maj Gen Satbir Singh (retd) – the two leaders of the OROP Movement – and Rajeev Chandrashekhar, MP and interlocutor to bring about a mutually acceptable settlement on OROP. While all other issues like base year, roll-out date, periodicity of review, ‘top of the scale’ fixation etc were discussed at length but ‘VRS’ had never figured during these conclaves. Obviously, because there is no such thing as ‘VRS’ in the military service. Yet, it quietly and ridiculously sneaked at the last moment in Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar’s press release alarming a section of military pensioners who took pre-mature retirement (PMR) who assumed the bureaucratic ignorance of difference between the two terms – VRS and PMR – to be a design to deny them their rightful dues.

  Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was quoted having said in Chandigarh that “the credit of giving Rs. 10,000 crore OROP to the military pensioners should go the poor.” The comment has been construed to imply as if enormous funds meant for the poor of the country were being diverted to the military pensioners. “Ham apne desh vasiyon ke liye mar to sakte hain lekin unka haq kabhi nahi mar sakte. Aisa kahna to hamare jale par namak chhidakne jaisa hai”, retired Subedar Major Inder Singh of Jat Regiment said at Jantar Mantar on September 12.

In an editorial, Business Standard (New Delhi, September 6) commented, “Also, those in the armed forces frequently retire early, meaning that at any one point there may be multiple retired servicemen for every one still in uniform. This in itself is enough to increase the fiscal burden. By some estimates, it would double or even triple the existing net present value of servicemen’s pensions.” What does it suggest? Soldiers should not retire early? To be a competent, robust and dependable war fighting force, military has to maintain youthful profile. Early retirement including premature retirement is therefore a measure to ensure this paramount requirement. Lateral absorption of the retiring trained, disciplined and experienced soldiers into civil and police services has been recommended by authorities and Pay Commissions but continues to be resisted by the destination organisations and departments. It is highly demotivating for the serving solders when they see their seniors retiring in their late 30s and 40s – a stage in life when their domestic responsibilities and expanding expenses like care of old parents, house construction, marriage of dependent siblings, kids’ education are at their peak and income drastically reduced.  On the other hand those who joined civil or police service around the same time continue to serve for another 20 years or more getting the benefit of regularly enhanced salaries, promotions and at least two Pay Commission awards more than the military pensioners.

Suggestions that military personnel also should be brought under the contributory pension scheme (NPS) introduced for the Centre and State services in 2004 is also not a practicable solution because military personnel cannot avail of the scheme as advantageously as their counterparts in the civil government jobs because of early retirement of military personnel.

Is the financial burden of military pensions really going beyond nation’s affordability? A scrutiny of growth trends in the defence budgets vis-à-vis GDP allays these fears. Even as there is always a quantum increase in the defence budget, total allocation for defence spending including salaries and pensions has actually recorded a decrease from 2.9 per cent of GDP in 2009 to 2.6 per cent of GDP in 2014.  As per World Bank statistics, GDP in India averaged $ 550.27 billion from 1970 until 2014, reaching an all-time high of $ 2066.90 billion in 2014 and a record low of $ 63.50 billion in 1970. Whereas average growth rate of India’s GDP has been 1.66 between 1996 and 2015, it grew from 4.6 in 2013 to 7 in Jul 2015. India’s defence budget (Rs 2,46,727 crore for FY 2015-16) on the contrary, declined from 2.7 in 2010 to 2.4 per cent of GDP in 2014. Interestingly, Pakistan, Israel and the US allocated 3.4, 5.2, and 3.5 per cent of their GDP respectively for the same period. Alarm bells calling OROP financials ‘unaffordable financial burden’ for the country are therefore preposterous, false and perhaps even scandalous to short-change the soldier.

Integrated functioning of MoD with Military, emphasised from time to time by experts including the Kargil Review Committee, is yet to see light of the day. According to K Subramanyam, India’s noted strategic thinker and Chairman, Kargil Review Committee, “the present structure of civil-military relations lies lost in a system where politicians enjoy power without responsibility, bureaucrats wield power without accountability, and the military assumes responsibility without direction.”  Such a state is not conducive to harmonious functioning in the modern threat scenario particularly at a time when India is aspiring for bigger roles across borders and seas. The prevailing climate of civil-military trust deficit has already taken a toll of operational preparedness with stagnating modernisation and resource crunch. Higher military leadership is already under stress in the face of evolving threats and degrading morale and manpower.

Review Money guzzling Projects 

                At a time when the Finance Ministry and economists are raising alarm over OROP, if fails prudence why no attention is seen being paid to tons of money going down the drain through subsidies, food security, MNRGA and so on.  An amount of Rs 2.27 lakh crore ($37 billion) has been budgeted by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for major subsidies like food, petroleum and fertilizers for the current fiscal. In his address on August 15 this year, the Prime Minister said that as a consequence of direct credit of gas subsidy adopted last year, as much as Rs 15,000 crore was saved in the first year itself. There is enormous scope to save and utilise the enormous funds being swindled from populist schemes by streamlining the distribution and accounting.

A CAG sample survey report published in July 2012 stated that only 3.2 per cent of the target households under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) have benefited from the scheme. This means that 96.8% of the corpus spent on this most ambitious social sector scheme launched in Independent India’s history, might be going down the drain. Since the 1980s when Rajiv Gandhi said that of every rupee spent in welfare projects by the government only 15 paise reached the beneficiaries. Subsequent studies have shown that the average utilisation figure may be still lower at around 6% only. The finance minister has enhanced budgetary allocation for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) to Rs 34,699 crore from Rs 34,000 crore last year despite government’s awareness of funds going astray. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had eloquently derided it in the Parliament saying, “MNREGA is a living epitome of your (the Congress’s) failures. After 60 years, the people of this country are being compelled to dig ditches.”

In the light of the above facts, it would be more appropriate for the Finance Minister to mobilise an effective mechanism to throttle corruption and rake in surplus money from these corruption zones rather than squeeze and starve India’s military and our war heroes who gave their life’s best in fighting and dying for the nation. As if answering the Finance Minister’s SOS call and concern over OROP, RBI Board of Directors has approved transfer of a surplus of Rs 65,896 for the current year.  Although even full implementation of OROP will not cost more than Rs 9,000 crore, there is enough for the Finance Minister to mobilise tens of thousands of crores. And I have not yet talked of the progress made on black money!

                All arguments for and against OROP notwithstanding, agitation, protest rallies, fasts and sreet sloganeering rasp sensitivities of old soldiers. Taking to streets for getting their genuine dues is against established military ethos. Soldiers are not known to be self-seekers. They are groomed to save and protect others even at the cost of their own their own life. The same ethos, however, also instils in a soldier’s psyche the courage to fight for justice. He does not want an ounce extra, would happily forego his own share for the nation and the needy whenever called upon to, but he hates to be cheated and denied his dues. In the times of modern communication technology and connectivity, images and utterances of the protesting ESM at Jantar Mantar become viral on social media and carry the risk of infecting military personnel deployed far away. Temperamentally, military veterans abhor public demonstration and protests. In the instant case, they came out to protest when 40 years of patient appeals and peaceful representations failed to yield despite judiciary upholding their demands. The government must therefore institutionalise a mechanism to monitor military sensitivities and address their problems ensuring timely fulfilment of their genuine needs so as to dissuade them from staging public protests and rallies.

                Long ago, Chanakya had advised Chandragupta Maurya, “while the citizenry of the State contributes to see that the State prospers and flourishes, the soldier guarantees it continues to EXIST as a State. To this man, O Rajadhiraja, you owe a debt. Please, therefore, see to it, on your own, that the soldier gets his dues regularly in every form and respect, be they his needs or his wants for he is not likely to ask for them himself.”   Kautilya, known also as Chanakya, gave his king this blunt warning: “The day the soldier has to demand his dues will be a sad day for Magadha for then, on that day, you will have lost all moral sanction to be king.”

RANK PAY CASE - APPEAL BY GOVT. IN SUPREME COURT

Veteran Brig K.G.BEHL

President Dehradun Ex-Services League

---------

It is disgraceful that the Union of India-MOD has moved the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India appealing for reopening the case and requesting them to limit their judgment to only those appellants who submitted writ petition in different courts and call all records from there and then decide on merit. It is nothing but further delaying tactics. Is it not enough that the Defence Officers have been made to suffer from 1.1.1986 and now when the Hon’ble Supreme Court has set the matters right they are again being asked to reconsider.

They should have gracefully accepted their fault and taken prompt action to close the chapter, to save their face, by rectifying the mistakes. Actually the Hon’ble Supreme Court has let them go cheaply by just imposing 6% interest on arrears and without casting aspersions or punishing the culprits who openly flouted the rules and Court Judgments and did not follow the laid down Court rules and precedents.

As we all know Rank Pay was introduced by the IV Central Pay Commission as Special Pay and was to be paid in addition to the substantive pay of the post/ rank held. It was shown on the Pay Slip as Rank Pay paid but instead of giving additional pay, as sanctioned by the IV CPC, an equivalent amount was deducted from the substantive Pay, fixed for the Rank This amounted, to not only denying the officers the additional rank pay but lowering the Basic Pay, in comparison to their counter parts in civil, on which status, DA and other allowances are worked out. This Rank Pay became double under the 5th CPC award with 100% merger of DA but the increased portion was only paid as Rank Pay and the earlier deduction continued. The 6th CPC too based their data on the same less basic pay.

The Hon’ble Kerala High Court in their judgment P.P.No.2448/1996 and as confirmed by the Division Bench of the same High Court in W.A.No.518/1999(Appeal) pointed out that the respondent 2 & 3 – MOD and CDA(O) respectively, had completely misunderstood the scope of extending the benefits of the rank pay to the Armed Forces Officers. As rank pay is some thing which was given to the Army Officers, for peculiar service conditions, in addition to the existing pay scale as was notified in the GOI Gazette dated 18.3.1987. Further the Court held that the provisions incorporated in Para 6 of MOD Instructions dated 26 May 86 have been found contrary to and without any substantive authority of the Govt. decision stipulated in Min. of Finance and MOD Notification dated 13.3.87 evidenced as exhibit P1 and R1 on record of the case and the said deduction was thus held inadmissible in law. And Para 6 thus stood annulled.

Once SLP No. CC-5908/2005 filed by Union of India against the Judgment of Hon’ble High Court of Kerala was rejected on 12.07 2005, the MOD should have, amended Para 6 of Mod Instruction dated 26 May 86, which was held ultra- vires by the Hon’ble Court, besides paying back the deductions made to the appellant. It amounts to contempt of court.

Secondly, as there was a Judgment of Hon’ble Supreme Court already available where the Court had directed the Govt. that where a judgment has been delivered in one case and similar faults/ mistake is noticed/ reported in some other case, the concerned departments should set right the similar mistakes, as pointed out in a particular case earlier, without referring to the Court again. Based on these directions MOD had many times rectified such mistakes and differences were either paid or recovered without reference to any court of law. Similarly, in this case, Officers should not have been made to go to courts and the MOD should have settled the cases accordingly at their own rather than delaying it for so many years. It has unnecessarily delayed matters and amounts to a criminal offence to deny so many officers their dues for so many years and make them suffer with less Pay and Pension, especially those who have left us during this long period and family pensioners. It lowers the morale of the troops.

It took more than 20 years to get final judgment of the case The matter was heard and finally disposed of by the Hon'ble Supreme court by the Bench of Hon'ble Mr. Justice Markendey Katju & Hon'ble Mr. Justice R.M. Lodha today i.e. 08.03.2010 (Court-7, Item-84). The Apex Court has held that the judgment dated 05.10.1998 of the Hon'ble Single Judge of Kerala High Court in P.P. No. 2448/1996 as confirmed by the Hon'ble Division Bench of the same High Court in W.A. NO. 518/1999 (Appeal) was correct and reasonable and as such the benefit of this judgment be extended to all eligible officers of Armed Forces. The Hon'ble Apex Court awarded 6% interest on the amount due to the officers. The Hon'ble Supreme court disposed of the transfer petition and allowed the writ petitions of the petitioners.

In spite of clear violations of the rules and Court judgments, going again to Court is a deliberate attempt to delay matters and sub verge justice. It is also contrary to the instructions issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice, Department of Legal Affairs, New Delhi vide their Office Memorandum No.1-28015/01/2009- Admn.IV(LA) Dated 3rd Sep. 2009 where they have advised different Govt. Ministries /Depts. who keep on making repeated references insisting for concurrence of this Department to agree to a particular course of their action which is not legal. It is observed that there is a tendency of filing frivolous petitions/appeals till the highest Court decides otherwise. Once a considered view has been expressed by this Department and there are Judgments by the Apex Court on the subject, such petitions to Courts amount to clogging Judicial System where there is already a huge pendency. We hope the Ministry of Law and Justice intervenes and advises them to withdraw such cases and make immediate payments as ordered by the Hon’ble Supreme Court.

If they insist on such tactics, we pray to the Hon’ble Supreme Court to deliver an exemplary judgment punishing officials who indulge in such nefarious acts denying even Defence Forces their due.