Old Pension Scheme: People have high hopes for pension. Meanwhile, a division bench of the Delhi High Court has directed the central government to extend the benefits of the Old Pension Scheme to all personnel of the paramilitary forces, the Army, Navy and Air Force personnel.
The direction is part of a judgment by a bench of Justice Suresh Kant and Justice Nina Krishna Bansal, which said that the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) are part of the armed forces of the central government and should be given the same benefits as them.
The benefits of Pension Scheme
OPS will be applicable to CAPF personnel as per CCS Pension Rules, 1972. The Delhi High Court Bench held that Article 246 of the Constitution envisages the Armed Forces of the Union of India to include “Naval, Military and Air Force; any other Armed Forces of the Union”, and therefore CAPF personnel are entitled to similar OPS benefits Along with this, the court has also ordered the Center to issue necessary orders within 8 weeks.
In fact, the Delhi High Court was hearing a batch of 82 petitions seeking quashing of orders denying OPS benefits to CRPF, BSF, CISF and ITBP personnel. The petitioners argued that on 22 December 2003, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a notification for the implementation of the New Pension Scheme with effect from 1 January 2004.
Pension Scheme He said that the benefit of OPS was given to those paramilitary personnel whose recruitment process was completed by December 31, 2003, but they had joined the force after January 1. The court noted that the 2003 notification for the New Contributory Pension Scheme (NPS) mentioned that ‘with effect from January 1, 2004, the system would be mandatory for all new recruits to the service of the Central Government (except the armed forces in the first phase)’.
