Friday 27 July 2018

OROP gets a little more complicated?

After the recommendation of the Seventh Central Pay Commission that pension should be calculated on the basis of notional pay on the date of retirement/death, there are many discussions and arguments whether OROP will survive in its classical understanding of Same Amount of Pension for the Same rank with the Same number of years of service.

 As illustrated elsewhere by a contributor to this blog, officers/Other Ranks of the same course/batch may get promoted to the rank they retire/die in in different time frames. That would mean that some one promoted earlier will draw more number of increments than some one promoted later, though they may all superannuate at the same age, appropriate to the rank.       

Now, the honourable Supreme Court has held on 11 July 2018 in Civil Appeal No. 10035 of 2010 in Transfer Application No. 492 of 2010 of the Principal Bench of the AFT that Submarine Pay (as distinct from Submarine allowance) must be reckoned to be Pay and qualifies to be included for calculation of pension.   


Perhaps as Submarine Pay was included in the category of Special Pay which included Flying Pay,  due to "highly dangerous nature of work in highly arduous conditions" (quoted in Para 2.1 of the judgment). 

These Special Pays were re-designated as allowances by a MoD letter dated 01 Mar 2004 and were excluded from the reckonable emoluments for caluctaion of Pension.

 Presently the order is applicable to pre 4 CPC PBOR Submariners. But it would perhaps be challenged quoting the Nakara and the Vains judgments that Submariners are a homogeneous group and extended by pensioners whose Flying Pay has not be taken cognisance of for calculation of pension.  

So now, what would be its effect on OROP? 

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