Rework the pension for five women officers: SC to Navy

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Indian Navy to rework the pension benefits of five women short service commission officers (WSSCO) and waive interest on gratuity refund, while reminding that these women officers had served the country for a substantial period of their life.

The five officers were among the first inductee batches of WSSCO in the Navy and had missed out on grant of permanent commission as they had been released prior to September 26, 2008. The date formed the cutoff date followed by the Supreme Court in its March 17, 2020 judgment by which WSSCO who continued beyond this date became eligible for grant of permanent commission while the present petitioners were entitled to only pension benefits and a one-time compensation of ₹25 lakh and not reinstatement.

The petitioners, represented by advocates Haripriya Padmanabhan and Pooja Dhar, informed the court that the pension pay order issued to them by the Navy was calculated against 14 years of service when the judgment clearly held them to be deemed to have fulfilled the minimum qualifying pensionable service of 20 years. Further, the counsels pointed out that the Navy demanded a refund of the terminal gratuity payable to WSSCO along with interest, which doubled the liability.

“...The pension payment be calculated on basis of last drawn salary had they continued till 20 years in service,” said the bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Vikram Nath and Hima Kohli.