PENSION PART OF RIGHT TO LIFE : BOMBAY HC

PENSION PART OF RIGHT TO LIFE : BOMBAY HC 23 Dec 2008, 0300 hrs IST, Swati Deshpande, TNN MUMBAI: Pensioners now have a reason to smile. In a landmark judgment, the Bombay High Court has held that pension is a vital aspect of social security and that the right to receive it constitutes a right to life under the constitution. Moreover, it held that pension must be paid regularly in the first week of the month. "Deprive a pensioner of the payment and you deprive him or her of the right to life. Delayed pensionary payments place a pensioner in a position of uncertainty and dependence which impinges on the quality of life under Article 21, and the right to dignified existence of the aged," said Justice D Y Chandrachud while directing the transport undertaking of Solapur Municipal Corporation to deposit the pensions of 13 retired employees on the first day of the succeeding month or latest by the seventh day. The judge noted that pensioners can't be left to the mercy of the administration to receive what is a matter of right. "Pensioners must lead their lives with a sense of self-respect and dignity," he held as he innovatively developed the rights of senior citizens, especially pensioners, in consonance with the guarantees expected under the constitution. The judgment was passed in a case where the Solapur civic body had challenged a direction of an industrial court which had labelled its action of delaying pension payments inordinately each month as an unfair labour practice and directed it to credit the monthly pension by the first day of each following month. The civic body explained that it was in financial difficulties and said it could pay by the 15th and not the first. The civic body argued that the Maharashtra Civil Services (Pension) Rules does not mandate payment by the first of each following month. It says payment has to be made "on or after the first day..."

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