Kathmandu, Oct 15: Denying that Nepalese gurkhas employed with the British Army were being discriminated in terms of retirement benefits, UK has said they were treated par with their British counterparts. The comments were made by British ambassador to Nepal Keith Bloomfield as a reaction to last week's judgement in the Royal Courts of Justice in London, in which appeal judges ruled that the current Ministry of Defence policies on Gurkha pensions, pay and married accompanied service provisions are lawful under the human rights act.
The appeal had been brought on behalf of the Gurkha Army Ex-servicemen's Organization (GAESO) after Justice Sullivan's earlier judgement in February this year.
"The judgement acknowledged our belief that Gurkha soldiers get an excellent deal which is both generous and fair and tax free", Bloomfield claimed.
There are altogether 3,400 Gurkha servicemen in the British Army at present. Gurkhas are an important part of the British army, the ambassador said.
Bureau Report