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Sunday, February 13, 2011

Armed Forces Grievances Redressal Commission : Govt throws another spanner in the works

It may be recalled that the case ‘Pushpa Vanti Vs Union of India’ was fixed for 07 Feb 2011 before the Hon’ble Supreme Court. This is the case wherein directions were issued to the Central Govt to constitute an Armed Forces Grievances Redressal Commission and the Union was supposed to apprise the Court of the steps taken in the said direction.

The Solicitor General however reportedly apprised the Court that the Central Govt was taking steps to bring justice to the ‘doorsteps’ of veterans and the Court adjourned the matter for 6 weeks asking the Govt to file an affidavit to the effect apprising the Court as to the details of the same.

It does not seem that the Govt is quite conducive to the idea of giving full effect to the judgement though as on date the directions very much stand till the time modified by the Bench.

The following order was passed by the Bench on 07 Feb 2011 :

“List after six weeks and by the next date, Learned Solicitor General of India undertakes to file an affidavitstating the details about the machinery which the CentralGovernment plans to improve for addressing the grievances inquestion. A copy of this order be given to the learnedSolicitor General of India today itself.”


Not much can be expected from the MoD's Department of Ex-Servicemen welfare though. The top brass of the said department does not know chalk from cheese and overly relies on the mid-level staff which is known to stone-wall any proactive or productive suggestion relating to the defence services. The pension wing of the department is in shambles, totally understaffed and mired in pessimism of the highest order, with their top man, an officer of the Central Secretariat Service who has remained posted in the MoD for an unusually long period, retiring in March with no replacement in sight (as if it matters !). The said wing also has the unique distinction of burdening the Services Headquarters and overloading the dockets of the Courts with the highest number of unwanted, uncalled for, hopeless litigation with a brazen non-committal attitude which is neither here nor there.

Let us see what magic the Solicitor General comes up with on the next date.

13 comments:

sl said...

The hearing of the IV Pay Commission Pay Re-Fixation matter on 24th Feb and filing of the affidavit in respect of AFGRC would be crucial events from the point of view of armed forces veterans.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Maj Navdeep for posting such an important but apparently innocuos delay in implememtng AFRGC.Hope something effective will come soon and you will keep us posted. Thank you once again.

LT.COL.(RETD) K.B.MATHUR said...

It is not at all difficult to give details of the plans to solve the grievances of ESM .But the point is whether these plans will ever materialise .

ravindra said...

I do hope it is made clear to the court of the categories of people affected in the matter of Rank pay subtraction from Basic pay and then showing a revised pay scale as a result of the IV CPC. A cpc can be said to affect all those whose see a revision in monies received from Govt. That is, it affects in this court case all pre 1986 retirees receiving pension or family pension on the first day of effective day of 4th CPC, all serving officers at that time entitled to rank pay., all subsequently retired officers and their subsequent family pensioners and the nominees of the family pensioners. The officers , pensioners and family pensioners would have later gone through 5 and 6 pay commission revisions. so it is expected that all of these categories would be taken care off in the orders by the court . Only words like appeal is allowed leaves the field open again for selective implementation of benefits.

Exweltrust said...

Dear Major Sir, thank you for publishing the happenings regarding
AFT Judgements and the AFRGC.
The happenings make us to think that whether the AFRGC will come in to force atall or only will be in the air.
Sgt.S.Kanthiah
Exwel Trust, Tirunelveli-Dist, Tamil Nadu.

Anonymous said...

God Navdeep,
You are almost sounding like the protagonist in some black British comedy. Surely things cannot be so bleak as you paint them to be. On the other hand, maybe they are worse. Who knows, if the Pensions deptt doesn't pull up their socks, the hon Court may take Sui Moto cognisance and all our woes may be over. Thanks for keeping us informed.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for important info
I did not believe in GOD much. But after reading all the comments I think it is only GOD who will/should make an effort to make the BABUS wake up and start thinking / working seriously for rthose who guard them 366 /leap year included /days in a year.
hope , hope, hope for the best in all cases
GURDEEP SINGH
GROUP CAPTAIN
RETD

dattatreyahg said...

for any govt that is muddled in scams of unbelievable magnitudes, lacklustre leadership, caustic comments from the judiciary and having to face angry opposition in parliament and disenchanted voters in a possible early poll, here is a golden opportunity to retrieve itself in the eyes of the public as a govt which stands for reason and justice,which is not arrogant, which is impartial and has the wisdom to see the rights and wrongs of the advice(!) coming from the lower levels of buereacracy that has forced endless litigation on veterans and their familes and at least now earn the blessings of the veterans and families who have been put to a great deal of hardships in trying to secure their legitimate dues denied to them for long years.
i hope govt will act right and fast so that it will not have to feel guilty for ever , even after granting what is due, if the beneficiaries are dead and gone

Anonymous said...

i, being lady officer wants to know about the case abt PC of lady officers...........

Harry said...

@ Anony Lady Officer above

Pls read the following link to get updated on Lady officers' PC case :-

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Gender-bias-exists-in-Army-Officer-to-SC/articleshow/7529169.cms

MILITARY UNCLE said...

Dear Navdeep

Wanted some guidance about CDA Pune seeking return of excess amount paid on leave encashment due to wrong pay fixation by CDA on my retirement in 2008.
Their letter has no details and it is coming after 2 and a half years.
amount IS LARGE

Lt Col Atul

chinta Joshi said...

Sir, Thank u for informing the status. I am not able to get legitimate dues from Record Office, BEG & Centre Kirkee, Pune. It has been 15 months since i have retired. I have retired as a Hav (Clk).

mvn said...

Sir how can i contact to Armed Forces grievance redressal commission. can u post or send me address detail.