CHANDIGARH: Putting an end to a long-pending incongruity, the Punjab and Haryana high court has directed the Union government to purge the glaring anomaly related to ranks of major general and above whereby senior military ranks were getting a lower pay and pension than their juniors.
Even colonels were drawing more than lieutenant generals in certain cases. Justice Fateh Deep Singh directed the central government to resolve the anomaly within six months and also observed that this anomaly is adversely impacting and affecting the morale of the defence forces.
No consensus on methodology to resolve anomaly
The crux of the anomaly is the addition of the Military Service Pay (MSP) of Rs 15,500 till the rank of brigadier. After the rank of brigadier, while the amount of this special allowance is subsumed and added on promotion for ranks above major general, the same is not added as a separate element as a result of which lower ranks get paid more than higher ranks.
With the addition of MSP, the scales of lieutenant colonel, colonel, and brigadier surpass those of major-general to lieutenant-general. The pay anomaly also affects the pensions of retirees too.
The then defence minister Arun Jaitley, who was also holding the portfolio of finance ministry at the time, had addressed the anomaly but the final letter was not issued with the defence ministry, the finance ministry and department of personnel & training writing letters to each other but failing to reach a consensus on the methodology to resolve the anomaly.
The matter, however, had reached before the Punjab and Haryana high court in the wake of a petition filed by Major General D N Asija and others.
They had impleaded the defence ministry and the Union finance ministry for causing a delay in removing the anomalies.
Experts on the subject say that the order would affect all similarly placed officers and not just the litigants before the high court.
