IC 29547 L BOBBY JOSEPH v. UNION OF INDIA INSC 1046

Summary of IC 29547 L Bobby Joseph v. Union of India

Facts: The appellant was granted Short Service Commission on 15.06.1969 and Permanent Commission on 15.06.1974. He voluntarily proceeded for his pre-mature retirement w.e.f. 15.07.1991 in the rank of Major. He was granted pension by an order dated 29.07.1991, as Major. The Appellant sought for revision of pension as he was entitled for payment of pension applicable to the rank of Lt. Colonel (TS) pursuant to the implementation of the 5th Central Pay Commission. As the request made by the Appellant was rejected, he approached the Armed Forces Tribunal, Regional Bench, Kochi, which directed the reconsideration of the representation made by the Appellant. They were of the opinion that the appellant fell short of the service period of 21 years by 30 days and thus the pension of a Lt. Colonel could not be granted. Challenging the proceedings dated 30.04.2015, the Appellant filed O.A. No.110 of 2015 before the Armed Forces Tribunal. The Armed Forces Tribunal dismissed the O.A., dissatisfied with which, the Appellant has filed the above Appeal.

Issue: 1.) Whether the Appellant was entitled to Pension applicable to the rank of Lt. Colonel.

Holding: The Supreme Court held that the Appellant was entitled to the pension applicable to the rank of Lt. Colonel. They observed that the order dated 15.10.1991 which granted the Appellant the rank of a Lt. Colonel had not been withdrawn, therefore the Appellant's claim for pension in this rank could not be denied. The Court also rejected the requirement of 21 years of service for the post of Lt. Colonel because the order dated 15.10.1991 preceded this and the Appellant was entitled to the pension of a Lt. Colonel.

Rationale: The rationale behind the Supreme Court decision was that the order dated 15.10.1991 gave the appellant the promotion to the post of a Lt. Colonel. The main argument behind the rejection of pension of the post of Lt. Colonel to the Appellant by the Armed Forces Tribunals was that he fell short of the 21 years of reckonable service by 30 days. However, the Supreme Court held that the order dated 15.10.1991 by which the competent authority approved the promotion of officers to the rank of Lt. Colonel by time scale. This particular order was not withdrawn and the the it was argued that it was issued due to a mistake, so the Appellant could not be denied the pension of a Lt. Colonel on the ground that he had not completed 21 years of reckonable service. Therefore, the Supreme Court deemed it appropriate for the Appellant to receive the pension of the rank of a Lt. Colonel, allowing the appeal.