NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday noted that Centre is facing difficulties in clearing the pension arrears of retired defence personnel under the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme in one go, but emphasized that it is duty-bound to comply with its 2022 judgment on the payment of arrears and asked it to pay dues for 2019–2022, amounting to nearly Rs 28,000 crore, by February 28 next year.
Attorney General R Venkataramani submitted before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud that the budget outlay was not sufficient to meet the expenses and the total pensioners are over 20 lakh, and the OROP arrears would be in the range of Rs 28,000 crore. The Centre has proposed to pay the arrears by April 30, 2024. The bench, also comprising Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala, noted that out of 25 lakh pensioners, 4 lakh did not qualify for the OROP scheme as they were getting enhanced pensions. It said the arrears should be cleared by February 28, 2024, and formulated the schedule for payment of arrears to different groups of pensioners under the OROP scheme. The bench directed that the six lakh family pensioners and gallantry award winners should be paid their OROP dues by April 30, 2023, and retired servicemen aged 70 and above, who are nearly 4-5 lakh, should get their dues in one or more instalments by June 30. (IANS)
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