Pension is a right, not charity: SC to Allahabad HC

The Supreme Court of India directed the Allahabad High Court to urgently hear a 77-year-old cancer patient’s nine-year-pending pension plea, stressing timely justice and recognising pension as a vested right linked to livelihood under Article 21

New Delhi: Coming to the rescue of a senior citizen suffering from cancer, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Allahabad High Court to grant an urgent hearing to his plea regarding pension and post-retirement benefits that have been pending for the last nine years.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi asked the High Court to consider the 77-year-old man’s case on a sympathetic basis and give an out-of-turn hearing.
The top court was hearing a plea filed by one Ram Shanker who submitted that the prolonged delay in adjudication of his claim resulted in the violation of his fundamental rights under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.

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Shanker, who was employed in UP government service, in his plea contended that “pension is not a bounty” but a vested right of an employee and forms an integral part of the right to livelihood under Article 21 of the Constitution. The petitioner rendered service from June 1, 1970 to May 28, 1985. He later joined the Gas Authority of India Ltd.

The state government denied pensionary benefits citing certain rules and provisions. Shanker moved the High Court in 2017, where the case remained pending and was adjourned on several dates as the state sought time.