SC Puts Interim Stay On Delhi HC Order To Restore Old Pension Scheme For Paramilitary Forces
New Delhi, July 10 (TNA) The Supreme Court has put an interim stay on the Delhi High Court's order to implement the old pension scheme for paramilitary forces. However, the Supreme Court has ordered the Central Government to follow the Office Memorandum (Office Form) dated March 3, 2023, issued by the Department of Pension and Pensioners Welfare, Ministry of Personnel, Pensions and Public Grievances.
In this office memorandum, one time option has been given to the employees till August 31, 2023 to adopt the old pension scheme with certain conditions. Along with this, the Supreme Court has also issued notice to the respondent Pawan Kumar and others on the petition of the Central Government and has summoned the reply by February, 2024. The Supreme Court will now hear the matter in February 2024.
The Central Government has challenged the order of the Delhi High Court on the ground that the High Court has equated the paramilitary forces with the armed forces, while the Central Government says that the words used in the circular include only the Army, the Navy and the Armed Forces. Air force comes, paramilitary forces do not come in them.
In the notification issued by the Central Government to implement NPS, the armed forces were kept out of the purview of NPS. The Supreme Court has ordered the Central Government to follow the DoPT's office memorandum dated March 3, 2023, that office memorandum government has issued the Delhi High Court's January 11, 2023 decision to implement the old pension scheme for paramilitary forces was issued later.
On July 5, a bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Bela M. Trivedi, while issuing notice in the matter after hearing the Centre's plea, stayed the portion of the High Court order on implementation of the old pension scheme for paramilitary forces. But the Central Government has been instructed to follow the circular dated March 3, 2023 of DoPT.
The Office Memorandum states that in cases where Central Government civil servants have taken up jobs against vacancies and vacancies advertised before the notification of the National Pension Scheme (NPS) dated December 22, 2003, and their joining service date of NPS implementation On or after January 1, 2004, they will be given a one time option to switch over to the old pension as per the CCS Pension Rules, 1972 which are now 2021. The concerned government employees can exercise this option till August 31, 2023.
The Delhi High Court, in its judgment dated January 11, 2023, had ordered implementation of the old pension scheme for paramilitary forces. The High Court had held that the term armed forces included in the notification for implementation of NPS also included paramilitary forces. The Central Government has challenged in the Supreme Court the order of the Delhi High Court to include paramilitary forces in the armed forces and give them the benefits of the old pension scheme, considering them as Army, Navy and Air Force.