MoD, Army file review petitions against JCOs in SC despite AG advising against it

Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi wrote to the the Defence Secretary advising withdrawal of appeals in cases which have already been decided by the apex court.

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Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi wrote to the the Defence Secretary advising withdrawal of appeals in cases which have already been decided by the apex court.

Disregarding the directions of the Attorney General, Mukul Rohtagi, on not filing appeals in matters in which the Supreme Court has already adjudicated in the past, the Army Headuarters and the Ministry of Defence are learnt to have directed government lawyers to file review petitions in a large number of pension cases pertaining to Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs).

The Indian Express has accessed the letter written by Mukul Rohtagi on October 9, 2015 to the Defence Secretary in which he has advised withdrawal of appeals in cases which have already been decided by the apex court. Giving specific examples in his letter, Rohtagi had pointed out to the Defence Secretary that the Supreme Court had taken a serious view of such appeals and in some cases it had even awarded costs ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 25,000 in these matters. Referring to the judgments pertaining to cases of Junior Commissioned Officers the Attorney general said, “It is advised to pass necessary instructions to the concerned departments to avoid loss of face to the state and embarrassment to the government”. A copy of the letter was also sent to the Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Naval Staff and the Chief of Air Staff.

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Highly placed sources inform that despite the strongly-worded letter of the Attorney general, the Army Headquarters has, on the directions of some officials in the Ministry of Defence, ordered that appeals be filed in the case of disability pension of JCOs in the apex court. In the matter of JCOs, the 6th Pay Commission had recommended that the Honorary Naib Subedars should be given the same pension as that of regular Naib Subedars. However, the MoD only issued instructions for those Naib Subedars who had retired post 2006 thereby dividing pensioners of the same rank as the pre 2006 retirees were getting the pension of a Havildar.

This discrimination was struck down by the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) and was also upheld by the apex court in 2010. However, the MoD continued to file appeals in such cases and it was in this context that the Attorney General wrote this letter late last year. Earlier, an expert panel constituted by the Defence Minister, Manohar Parrrikar, had also recommended in the same vein and had labelled the appeals of the MoD as “ego-fueled” and “litigation of luxury”.

However, legal experts familiar with these cases have now revealed that despite these letters and recommendations and existing SC judgments, the Army Headquarters has ordered review petitions in all cases pertaining to honorary Naib Subedars again contesting benefits given to them from January 2006. The experts state that the MoD and the Army headquarters should gracefully accept the law as laid down by the courts and not indulge in appeals by treating them as a prestige issue.

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