New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Ministry of Defence to withdraw its January 20 communication on payment of One Rank, One Pension (OROP) arrears in four instalments.
The court reminded the ministry that it cannot take the law into its own hands with issuing the communication.
The response of the court came when the central government told the court that it paid one installment and requires more time for paying the arrears.
A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala said the court will consider the application for more time but asked: “First withdraw your January 20 communication on payment of OROP arrears.”
The bench said that the ministry cannot unilaterally say it will pay OROP arrears in four installments, adding that the January 20 communication by the ministry was ‘completely contrary to its verdict’.
The court asked the attorney general for a note on details of payment, modalities and priority of payment.
“We want that there has to be some kind of categorisation and older people should be paid the arrears first. Over four lakh pensioners have died since the litigation started,” the bench reportedly said.
The apex court was hearing an application by the Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement (IESM) that sought to set aside the Defence Ministry’s January 20 communication.
On February 27 the court strongly objected to the letter issued by the secretary in the ministry and asked him to file personal affidavit detailing his position.