Following criticism from the Supreme Court for unilaterally extending the payment deadline, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) directed the release of all one rank one pension (OROP) arrears in one go on Tuesday.
The MoD notification adds that in order to ensure timely payment of arrears, they may be “completed before 15th March 2023,” following the top court’s ruling Monday requiring all arrear payments to be made in one installment for OROP revisions by 15 March.
The release of arrears will be a huge relief for the families and retired members of the armed services who have been waiting for their distribution.
The order further stated that the previous procedure, in which the OROP arrears were issued in four installments, was no longer relevant. The disbursement procedure would now be finished all at once.
Family pensioners and recipients of gallantry awards were given an exception to receive the arrears all at once during the previous gradual procedure of releasing the arrears in four installments.
Around 25 lakh pensioners will profit from the government’s decision in December to revise the pension for military personnel under the OROP retroactively to 1 July 2019. Along with an extra payment of Rs 23,638 crore in arrears, it will result in an additional annual expense of Rs 8,450 crore.
The top court criticized the defence minister on Monday for communicating that OROP arrears could be paid in four installments, extending the due date. Mid-March was the original date set by the Supreme Court, with extensions granted in September 2022 and January 2023.
A panel made up of the Chief Justice of India, D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice P.S. Narasimha, and J.B. Pardiwala mandated that the Secretary of Defence, MoD, submit a personal affidavit outlining the reasoning behind the decision to postpone the payment deadline, which the court had previously set for March 2023.
Even on Monday, the CJI announced that the court would give the defense minister a notice of contempt.
