Centre's delay to clear pension arrears of 1965 war hero irks P&H High Court

The Punjab & Haryana High Court recently directed the Central government to clear the pension arrears of a Vir Chakra awardee from the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war within one month in accordance with a 2018 order of Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT), with a warning that non-compliance would incur an additional 15% interest. [Union of India and ors. V. Capt. Reet MP Singh (Retd.) and ors.]..A Bench of Justices Sanjeev Prakash Sharma and Meenakshi I Mehta took exception to the 7-year delay by the Centre in clearing the arrears even after a judgment in this regard attained finality in 2018.The Court flagged concern that petitions are being repeatedly filed challenging the orders of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) based on the Supreme Court’s judgment in Parashotam Dass.In that case, the Supreme Court had overruled its 2015 decision in Union of India v. Major General Shri Kant Sharma, which had stated that High Courts do not have the power to hear petitions under Article 226 challenging AFT orders."We are finding that the petitions are being filed challenging the orders of the AFT one after another on the basis of judgment passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Parashotam Dass 2023 INSC 265 them to challenge the time....We direct the petitioners to implement the order within a period of one month henceforth, failing which, 15% additional interest upon interest already directed by the AFT, shall be payable in favour of the concerned officer and shall be recoverable from the concerned officers, who would be responsible for not releasing the payment," the High Court said..The case concerned retired Captain Reet MP Singh, a decorated Army Officer, who suffered a disability during war and was awarded the prestigious 'Vir Chakra.' Following this, he was granted a disability pension, but it was fixed at 80% instead of the full 100% that he was entitled to.In 2014, the Supreme Court, in the case of Union of India & Others vs. Ram Avtar, ruled that disability pensions should be granted at 100% in similar cases. Based on this precedent, Capt. Reet MP Singh sought to have his disability pension revised accordingly..On August 23, 2018, the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) issued an order directing that the petitioner’s disability pension be revised to 100%. However, despite the order attaining finality, it was not implemented by the authorities, leading to further legal proceedings.In response, the Union of India filed a writ petition before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, challenging the AFT's decision. The High Court in its order of January 22 berated the Centre for the same and ordered that the arrears be cleared within a month..[Read Order]