Pension can be stopped at time of initiating departmental action itself in serious cases: AFT

Junking a plea that pension cannot be stopped till departmental proceedings are complete and a person has been held guilty, the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) has ruled that pension already being paid can be withheld even at the time of initiating departmental proceedings against a person after he has retired in cases where the alleged offence is serious.

Dismissing the petition for interim relief filed by an Army non-commissioned officer (NCO) who was allegedly involved in a recruitment scam, the Tribunal’s Bench comprising Justice Rajendra Menon and Rear Admiral Dhiren Vig observed in their order of April 1 that statutory powers are available with the competent authority under the Pension Regulations for discontinuing or withholding the pension of the applicant at this stage.

The NCO had taken premature retirement as a naik in the Rajputana Rifles and was granted pension since October 2020. A Court of Inquiry against him was ordered by Headquarters 7 Infantry Division, Ferozepur, in March 2021 and since he had ceased to be an employee, Section 123 of the Army Act was invoked for recalling him and attaching him to an Army unit for departmental inquiry.

The NCO’s counsel had argued that pension can be withheld only after the applicant is punished pursuant to a finding of guilt recorded in departmental proceedings and not prior thereto. He averred that once pension was granted to the applicant, there was no provision to the effect that pending finalisation of the departmental proceedings, the applicant can be punished by stopping or withholding his pension.

He had further contended that according to provisions of Section 9 of Pension Regulations, under which the Army stopped his pension, can be applied only if the departmental proceedings had commenced before the retirement or before grant of pension and not after that.

The Bench observed that according to various clauses contained in Section 9 the competent authority can withhold, suspend or discontinue pension payable to an employee in case an employee is found to be involved in serious crimes under the Indian Penal code, Official Secrets Act or any other special law of the land. Regulation 9(b)(ii)(iii) of the Pension Regulations for the Army Part-I (2008) contemplates a provision for discontinuation of pension in such eventuality.

That apart, under Regulation 9(b)(v) of the said Regulations, when a report is received after sanctioning the pension, that departmental or judicial proceedings are in progress, in such cases the pension can be discontinued, the Bench said.

“It is, therefore, a case where on account of a finding recorded by a board of officers with regard to serious allegations in the recruitment scam undertaken by the applicant a Court of Inquiry has been initiated against the applicant, with regard to a serious scam not only under the Indian Penal Code but also under the Army Act as contemplated in Regulation 9(b)(ii) of Army Pension Regulations, and based on the report submitted by the board of officers as provided in Section 9(b)(v), the action is taken by the respondents pending the Court of Inquiry and finalisation of the departmental proceedings,” the Bench ruled.