An Advisory:IV CPC Rank Pay anomaly case

Short Brief of Case so far.


Vide order dated 8.3.2010, the Hon’ble Supreme Court was pleased to pass final orders in the T.P. (Civil) No. 56 of 2007 and after transferring, the Writ Petitions pending before the High Courts of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Allahabad were allowed and W.P. (Civil) Nos. 96 of 2009 and 34 of 2009 pending before the Hon’ble Court were also allowed. The Hon’ble Court also allowed the application for intervention in T.P. (Civil) No. 56 of 2007. After hearing detailed arguments, the Hon’ble Court agreed with the judgment dated 5.10.1998 passed by the learned Single Judge of the Kerala High Court in O.P. No. 2448 of 1996 and the order dated 4.7.2003 passed by the Hon’ble Division Bench of the Kerala High Court in W.A. No. 518 of 1999 and while upholding the aforesaid judgments and reasoning, directed to pay the rank pay to officers of the Armed Forces retrospectively with effect from 1.1.1986 and also directed to pay 6% interest p.a. accordingly.

Against the aforesaid order dated 8.3.2010, Union of India, the Applicant, has filed an interlocutory application (I.A.) for directions seeking modifications/directions/recall of order dated 8.3.2010. In response to this, the RDOA has filed a detailed and comprehensive counter affidavit in the apex court. As per directions of the court UOI will be given four weeks time to file rejoinder before the case gets listed for disposal.

Off late there have been instances wherein officers who are ill informed about the case have been floating papers / writing to corridors of power / seeking to go to the Supreme Court to vacate the appeal filed by the UOI. Such hasty and half cooked actions will only complicate matters and lead to further delays. RDOA wants to assure all veterans that thorough research has been done on the case before resorting to litigation. Chances of the case floundering are remote, but if people file litigations in their exuberance on the subject matters the case may go on a tangent and result in loss of benefits.

It is therefore requested that all veterans should refrain from writing / going in for litigation on any issue / point related to the IV Pay Commission rank pay anomaly case. Your cooperation is highly solicited. There are no brownie points to be scored.
Secy RDOA

16 comments:

SANTOKH said...

Dear Sir,
Some veterans at Jalandhar have been given to understand (By advocates)that the decision of the SC in Rank Pay case is applicable to the officers who were applicants in the cases filed in High Courts and not to others.
Although this statement is incorrect,still the veterans are falling pray.
We need to make the environment understand as to how the SC decision is applicable to all officers (Capt to Brig)who were on the effective str as on 1.1.1986.By giving a cursory glance to the SC ruling, one does not find clear cut direction that the order is applicable to "ALL SIMILARLY PLACED OFFICERS".
I request you to educate the veterans accordingly.
Regards.
Lt Col S.S.Bhatia,(Retd)

sl said...

This is extremely useful information and is of great benefit to all those affected. Updates in respect of dates of filing of affidavits and the anticipated time-frame for further action by UOI, as well as the anticipated dates of hearings, would also be great value and help to obviate needless online speculation on the matter.

bp said...

The point raised by Col Bhatia, about SC judgement more than six months old, needs to be addressed with due seriousness and urgency. It is due to widespread lack of clarity on this issue,that officers are taking recourse to court action.

The appeal of RDOA to officers not to resort to court action at this stage is appreciated.But at the same time, may I request the legal luminaries in RDOA to set the doubts at rest by revealing the language used in SC judgement, and if necessary bring out its implications.
Air Commodore Bhavish Prakash (Retd)

RDOA said...

for santok & others.
Kindly see the website of rdoa.
The complete case alongwith judgment and progress so far has been posted.
secy rdoa

bp said...

Dear Sir,
Iam grateful for responding to my mail.
The SC judgement does not refer anywhere to "all similarly placed officers". In fact, even the word "officer" has not been used in the operative part of the judgement.

So how do we infer that the SC order applies to all similarly placed officers? The Kerala High Court orders were for Maj Dhanapalan only, and not for others.
Maybe the writ petitions from other High Courts that were allowed in this case by SC included the words,
'all similarly placed officers'. In that case all affected officers will be entitled to the benefit of rank pay.But we are not aware of the contents of those writ petitions. And no one has spoken about it.
So, how the applicability to 'all similarly placed officers' can be inferred from SC judgement remains unclear.
I wish to mention here that RDOA and, especially its legal experts, have done a splendid job and deserve our gratitude.
Regards,
Air Cmde Bhavish Prakash (Retd)

sl said...

One understands from the web site of the Hon'ble Supreme Court that a hearing has been fixed in respect of the matter on 18 October 2010.

OneTopic at a time said...

Having followed the case in the rdoa website in great detail, I am in agreement with Air Cmde Prakash that nowhere does the Supreme Court's Order of 8-3-2010 mention "all similarly placed officers."

Maj. Navdeep in his blog avers that it is applicable to all similarly placed officers."

Could the rdoa re-produce the Orderso that all doubts, especially of those who have deeper doubts and more exubarance, do not jump the gun

H.R.Janakiram said...

I request our esteemed Air Force Association to lend their support to this cause because, ultimately it is their duty which is being fulfilled by RDOA.

Gp Capt H.R.Janakiram(Retd)

Sqn.Ldr.(Dr.) J.P. Singh said...

Air Force Association is absolutely inert on any welfare of veterans. I became life member of Air Force Association as well as RDOA. RDOA is doing a lot whereas Air Force Association is invisible.
Sqn. Ldr. J.P. Singh (Retd)

somsharma said...

is SC order debars acting rank holders from RPA. My RPA not being clear saying only substantive rank pay holders are being paid and not actg

som sharma
col (Retd)

Sqn.Ldr.(Dr.) J.P. Singh said...

AFCAO has deducted 20% TDS on the calculated amount of arrears on the rank pay anomaly, whereas my pension falls well within the limit of 10%. On asking clarification on this issue, there is no reply from their side. It appears that the attitude of MoD and AFCAO is same towards retired Officers.
I am yet to receive revised PPO.

Sqn.Ldr.(Dr.) J.P. Singh said...

AFCAO has deducted 20% TDS on the calculated amount of arrears on the rank pay anomaly, whereas my pension falls well within the limit of 10%. On asking clarification on this issue, there is no reply from their side. It appears that the attitude of MoD and AFCAO is same towards retired Officers.
I am yet to receive revised PPO.

Anonymous said...

What about revision of subsequent pay scales i.e. 5th and 6th CPC scales. am sure if we consider rank pay and then determine grade pays and pay scales, the end result would be different. this would not only help serving people but also retired people like us through OROP. you may examine the issue

Maj. Arokiasamy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Maj. Arokiasamy said...

Dear Sir,
The contempt petition in the SC against the erring babus in the MoD raises the pride of RDOA in the hearts and minds of veterans that contains men of better merit than those babus in the MoD who consider that they being posted in the powerful posts can do what they want and stop paying due pay and pensions. We veterans feel proud and secure in the presence of this meritorious association. We are confident that justice will be done and the erring babus will be suitably punished so that the nationally important and sensitive MoD becomes soldier-friendly!
Regards
Maj. A. Arokiasamy (Retd.)

Sqn.Ldr.(Dr.) J.P. Singh said...

Dear Sir,
I seek advice from the experienced Officer who has knowledge about calculation of Rank Pay. A typical case is that an Officer who was Capt as on 01 Jan, 1986. His pay is supposed to have been fixed by adding Rs.200 as his Rank Pay. After 2 years he becomes Major, now in his case of fixation of Pay will Rs.600 be added to his Pay or Rs.200 be continued to be paid.
With regards.
Sqn. Ldr.(Dr.) J.P. Singh (Retd)