Supreme Court seeks roadmap on payment of OROP arrears; tells AG to ensure Defence Ministry does not take law into its hands

The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Ministry of Defence to provide a roadmap for the payment of arrears under the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme by next week. .A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala asked the Secretary of Defence Ministry to clarify whether the January order by the MoD extending time for payment of arrears was withdrawn as it was violative of the top court's previous directions. "Mr Attorney General, please ensure that the Defence ministry does not attempt to take the law into its own hands," said the CJI. The bench also underscored that its only concern is that former army personnel receive the amount. "Show us the note on Monday. How much is left, what is the prioritisation. the oldest people, widows etc can be taken into account, like above 75 etc.".During the previous hearing on February 27, the Court had taken exception to the decision of the MoD to unilaterally extend the deadline for payment of arrears to retired armed forces personnel under OROP.In January this year, the ministry had issued a communication stating that the payments would be made by way of four equal installments.The bench had ordered the Secretary to file a personal affidavit explaining why such a direction was passed by the ministry when the apex court had directed that the payment should be made by March mid this year. .The issues stems from the March 2022 judgment in which the top court had upheld the OROP scheme introduced by the Central government through its notification of November 7, 2015.The Court in that judgment had, however, said that a refixation exercise must be conducted by the government for a period of 5 years with regard to pension payable to Army personnel as stated in the OROP policy in accordance with the November 7, 2015 notification.It had then said that the arrears should be paid within 3 months..Subsequently, the same was extended by another 3 months in September 2022 and in January 2023, the Court granted another extension and directed that the payment be made by March 15.However, the Centre then issued a communication that the payment will be made quarterly in four installments.The affected personnel then moved the top court demanding how the government could unilaterally alter the deadline set by the apex court..[Read our live-coverage of the hearing below]