A public interest lawsuit filed by a NGO, Family Pensioners Welfare Samiti, has demanded that the pension for ex-servicemen shouldn’t be reduced.
The demands of the PIL
The petition questions the irrational reduction of the pension of the ex-servicemen between the ages of 38 and 42. Though the bench headed by the honorable chief justice of India, DY Chandrachud, was reluctant to address this issue, as this issue pertains to matters of policy, the advocate representing the petitioners, Nidhesh Gupta, tried to convince the bench in order to seek answers from the union government pertaining to this issue.
The counsel for the petitioners pointed out that a retired soldier, post-retirement, only gets 50% of his salary. In many cases, a retired serviceman is the sole earner of the household, and very often, to supplement the pension, they engage in jobs in the civilian sector.
However, if the ex-serviceman dies young, then the family, which was dependent on him, not only loses out on the salary he was getting from the civilian job, but they also get a pension, which is thirty percent of the last salary drawn.
Court’s Observation
The Supreme Court has demanded a response from the union government and seeks reason regarding the irrational reduction in family pension for a deceased ex-serviceman who retired from the armed forces between 38 and 42 years old with many unfulfilled family obligations.
