SC seeks response from Union ministries on plea of retired IPS officers’ body challenging pension clause

New Delhi, Nov 24 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from various Union ministries, including finance, home and law, on a plea filed by the Forum of Retired Indian Police Service Officers challenging the legality of a new pension validation clause introduced in the Finance Act in 2025.

Referring to earlier verdicts, the association said the pensioners belonging to the same class cannot be discriminated against merely based on their date of retirement.

A bench comprising Justices K V Viswanathan and Prasanna B Varale took note of the plea filed by the Forum of Retired Indian Police Service Officers (FRIPSO) through lawyer Alabhya Dhamija, and posted it for hearing along with other pending cases on the issue in January next year.

The plea challenges the constitutionality of Part IV of the Finance Act, 2025, which seeks to introduce the 'Validation of the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules and Principles for Expenditure on Pension Liabilities from the Consolidated Fund of India', and said that due to this, same class of officers would be treated differently. The petition said the alleged legislative attempt to revive and validate pension provisions that stand conclusively rejected by judicial pronouncements.

Besides the ministries of finance, home and law, the plea has also made the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare, and the Department of Personnel and Training as parties in the case.

“It is submitted that the provisions have a direct effect on the petitioner’s pending litigation before the Central Administrative Tribunal (which were instituted in 2018) and the contempt petition before the Delhi High Court,” it said.

“It is trite law that the legislature cannot override or nullify a binding judicial pronouncement by inserting a retrospective provision which validates the provision that failed to cure the very defect the court identified. Such an enactment, which sets at naught, a decision of a court without removing the defect pointed out, is against the rule of law and the Constitution's scheme of separation of powers…," it said.

These rulings, cited in the petition, affirm that pensioners belonging to the same class cannot be discriminated against merely based on their date of retirement.

The plea sought a declaration that the 'Validation of the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, and Principles for Expenditure on Pension Liabilities from the Consolidated Fund of India', as introduced and implemented by the Finance Act, 2025, be treated as unconstitutional, ultra vires and illegal.

“Issue an appropriate writ, order or direction directing the respondents to comply with the judgment dated 20.03.2024, passed by the High Court of Delhi, which was upheld by this honourable court dated 04.10.2024 in SLP (Civil) No... and direct the respondents to remit the pension to the petitioners from 2006 as directed by the high court, including payment of all arrears as per the court's directions, in a time-bound manner,” it said.

It also sought a direction to the ministry concerned to pay an interest at the rate of 12 per cent per annum to the petitioners on the delayed payment of pensionary benefits to them from the date the said amounts became due till the date of actual payment, the plea said. PTI SJK ARI ARI