PREM KUMAR vs UNION OF INDIA & ORS.

Judgment text excerpt

$~11 & 12 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI Date of decision: 27.02.2025 (11)+ W.P.(C) 2978/2022 (12)+ W.P.(C) 12268/2022 PREM KUMAR .....Petitioner SURENDER PRAKASH NAYYAR .....Petitioner Through: Dr.S.S.Hooda, Mr.Aditya Hooda, Advs. versus UNION OF INDIA & ORS. .....Respondents Through: Ms.Nidhi Raman, CGSC, Mr.Akash Mishra, Mr.Arnav Mittal, Advs. CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE NAVIN CHAWLA HON’BLE MS. JUSTICE SHALINDER KAUR NAVIN CHAWLA, J. (Oral) 1. These petitions have been filed by the petitioners, challenging paragraph 3(V) (wrongly mentioned as paragraph 2(V) in the prayer clause) of the Office Memorandum (‘OM’) No. 45/22/97-P&PW(C) dated 03.02.2000 issued by Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare, to the limited extent that it caps the aggregate of the service and disability element of pension at the pay last drawn, for 100% disability. 2. As both the petitions raise similar grievances and challenge in Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed WP(C) 2978/2022 & WP(C) 12268/2022 Page 1 of 10 By:RENUKA NEGI Signing Date:07.03.2025 20:00:55 law, to appreciate the same, we have taken the facts from W.P.(C) 2978/2022. 3. The learned counsel for the petitioners, referring to the OM No. 45/22/97-P&PW(C) dated 03.02.2000, submits that paragraph 5 of the said OM, recognizing that persons suffering from different percentages of disability cannot be equated for grant of the disability element of pension, provides for a graded percentage of disability for the computation of the disability element of pension. He submits that, however, the effect of the Impugned Paragraph 3(V)(1) of the Impugned OM is that a person having a disability of even 1% will get the aggregate of service and disability elements of pension equivalent to his pay last drawn, and so would a pers