Supreme Court upholds govt decision on One Rank, One Pension, finds no Constitutional infirmity

The Supreme Court upheld the government`s decision on One Rank, One Pension and said that it does not find any Constitutional infirmity on the OROP principle.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday (March 16) upheld the government's decision on One Rank, One Pension (OROP) saying it does not find any Constitutional infirmity on the OROP principle and the notification issued on November 7, 2015.

The apex court made this observation on a plea by ex-servicemen association seeking implementation of One Rank-One Pension as recommended by the Bhagat Singh Koshyari Committee.

According to reports, the Committee has recommended an automatic annual revision, instead of the current policy of periodic review once in five years.

A three-judge bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant and Vikram Nath observed that there is no legal mandate that everyone who held the same rank must have the same pension, adding that the scheme was a policy decision taken by the Central government and the government was empowered to do so, it was held.

"The Central government has taken a policy decision. Such a decision lies within the ambit of policymaking powers of the government. We do not find any constitutional infirmity on the OROP principle and the notification dated November 7, 2015," Live Law quoted the top court as saying. 

The top court, however, said the government must conduct a refixation exercise for a period of 5 years with regard to pension payable to Army personnel as stated in the OROP policy in accordance with the November 7, 2015 notification.