Thursday, October 24, 2013

Pension Major's Pre 1996

As per the judgment of ARMED FORCES TRIBUNAL,
Dear All
Link given for action
 
PRINCIPAL BENCH AT NEW DELHI in  RA 25/2013 with MA 234/2013  in OA 256/2011 delivered on 09 Oct 2013 all Majors who had completed 21 yrs service prior to 1996 are now entitled to Pension of Lt Col(TS).The judgment can be accessed on link http://www.aftdelhi.nic.in/assets/pending_cases/2013/RA/RA%2025%202013%20Major%20KG%20Thomas-09-10-2013.pdf
The case was a review petition which has been rejected and no leave given for appeal.
Officers may apply quoting this judgment.
Secy RDOA

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Update IV CPC Rank Pay Case: Contempt Petition (Civil) 328 of 2013: Hearing Date

It is intimated that as per the Hon'ble Supreme Court website the date of hearing of Contempt Petition in the IV CPC rank pay case which was scheduled for 28 Oct 13 has been changed to 15 Nov 13 as per the court directive.

Saturday, October 19, 2013

IV CPC Rank Pay Case: Update as appeared in Mail Today

Antony continues his flip-flop on paying veterans and widows their dues. Latest is to recall, reject and re-send. My report.

 
 
 
 
 
 
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The mis-governance of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and trust deficit between its uniformed and civilian arms couldn’t have been more embarrassing.
As appeared in the Mail Today newspaper on October 19, 2013
As appeared in the Mail Today newspaper on October 19, 2013
In implementing the Supreme Court’s year old order on giving veterans and war widows their due, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has now tied itself up in knots. The complexity it has created in implementing the same has impacted the MoD to the effect that it seems to have itself lost track, resulting into delay for all those veterans who have been awaiting this implementation for over a decade now.
Following a series of reports in MAIL TODAY on the differences between Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne and Defence Minister AK Antony emanating from improper implementation of Rank Pay case, Antony had convened a meeting in June this year. In this meeting it was decided that the MoD and service headquarters will present their case to the Attorney General for his final opinion on correct implementation of apex court’s order. It has now been reliably learnt that this procedure has been scrapped by Antony. Additionally, he has ordered both sides to yet again send their representations to the AG, with a rider to send them together, not separately. As a matter of fact, the AG in his communication to the MoD, last month, had asked the ministry to implement apex court’s orders while giving his interpretation of the finer details. Antony’s move has negated all of the progress and things will have to be started from the scratch.
Said a source aware of the developments, “After the June meeting, ACM Browne sent services’ representation to AG, as was decided, on July 1 which was returned by AG on July 19 for routing it through law ministry.” Meanwhile in August, two meetings were held where the services and concerned MoD departments were involved where it was decided to re-send the representation together. “However, the MoD, based on AG’s opinion which came last month, as a reply to an old plea of April this year already sent it to Ministry of Finance for implementation which when the services learnt about it, went complaining to Antony. This was why he, once and for all, wants clarity to emerge and rest the matter,” said a source. It was also learnt that the representation of the services is now with MoD’s legal advisor from where alongwith that of the MoD, both will be travel to AG’s office through Law ministry.
A query was sent to MoD’s Directorate of Public Relations (DPR) concerning this issue but no clarification was ever received.
Meanwhile this flip-flop came under sharp criticism by the veteran community.
“We see all this as the MoD’s inability to implement the apex court’s order for over a year now. This is yet another delay tactic. We are challenging them in the SC where a contempt petition has been filed and will come up for hearing on October 28,” said Lt. Col (retd) Satwant Singh of the Retired Defence Officers Association (RDOA),
What is the controversy surrounding the RANK PAY CASE about?
The Supreme Court, after a long legal battle had envisaged re-fixation of pay for all officers of the Army, Navy & Air Force who were eligible for Rank Pay with effect from 1.1.86, the date of implementation of the Fourth Pay Commission. However, the MoD implementation letter of December 2012 changed it to ‘as on 1.1.86′. The SC order had also sought the re-designing of the minimum basic pay in the integrated pay scale of IV pay commission to avoid different basic pay to similarly placed officers. Also, the subsequent amendments in the pay and pension orders issued towards fifth and sixth pay commissions.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Payment of Disability Pension (Neither Attributed Nor Aggravated ) due to Military Service

RDOA has taken up case with Dept of Ex Servicemen Welfare for payment of disability pension to affected officers/JCOs/ORs due to NANA. Affected individuals should write to CDA Pension giving details of their disability with copy of Release Medical Board Proceedings. ESM Orgs are requested to give wide publicity of the disability benefit. Officers who have not yet become members of RDOA are requested to do so.
Secy RDOA


By Email RDOA/Med/Dis/10/13

                                                                                                Dated: 10 Oct 2013
To,
Secretary,
Dept of Ex Servicemen Welfare,
South Block, New Delhi.

 Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA)

 PCDA Pensions
Draupadi Ghat,
Allahabad                                                                                                                               

PAYMENT OF DISABILITY PENSION : NEITHER ATTRIBUTED  NOR AGGRAVATED (NANA) BY MILITARY SERVICE

 Dear Sir,

1.         It is intimated that the Hon’ble Supreme Court vide its Judgment in the case no Civil Appeal 4949 of 2013 arising out of SLP (C) No 2940 of 2010 (Dharamvir Singh vs UOI) upheld the judgment passed by the Single judge dated 20 May 2004. As elaborated in Para 28 and 29 of the said judgment, the court has made it absolutely clear that ‘if a person at the time of entry into service was in sound physical and mental health and no entry of any disability exists in his record; then any disability occurring to the individual would be deemed to have occurred in service and would be attributed to and aggravated to military service’ and therefore such a person would be entitled to disability pension if it is 20 % or more. E-copy of Judgment attached.

 2.         There are a large number of Officers/JCOs/ORs who have been denied disability pension due to the remark ‘Neither attributed  nor aggravated due to Military Service’ endorsed in their release medical board proceedings although such disabilities occurred during their service tenure and they had disability of 20% or more.

 3.         In view of facts as stated above, it is requested that the cases of such individuals who have proceeded on retirement without getting disability pension should be reviewed and the disability pension on account of ‘NANA’ which has been denied to them should be paid retrospectively.

 4.         It is not expected of every affected person to approach the ‘Courts’ individually or collectively to seek redressal for admissibility of the said disability pension, once the ratio has been established by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the instant case. It will only increase the work load of the courts.

 5.         Retired Defence Officers Association (RDOA) will be constrained to claim interest and relief from the Apex Court in case the disability pension benefit is denied as has happened in the IV CPC Rank Pay Case. It is hoped that action would be taken to give disability pension to the affected ‘Veterans’.

 Thanking you,

Lt Col Satwant Singh (Retd)
Secretary
For RDOA

 Copy to:

 The Director,
Addl Dte Gen Pers Services,
PS 5, AG’s Branch, AHQ,
Room No 419, A Wing, Sena Bhawan
DHQ PO, New Delhi 110011

 DDG Veterans Cell,
AG’s Branch AHQ