Punjab and Haryana High Court upholds reservist sepoys’ pension protection

In a significant victory for reservist sepoys, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has upheld an Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) judgment directing the government to restore pension protection for reservist sepoys as per regulations, entitling them to higher pensions.

Under the ‘Colour Reserve’ enrolment system, sepoys served 15 years, including eight years in colour service and seven years in reserve, qualifying them for “reservist pension”. This pension was initially set at Rs 10 per month, with the lowest grade sepoy receiving Rs 15 per month. Over time, the government formalised the two-third formula in 1986 to ensure reservists didn’t receive more than two-thirds of a sepoy’s pension.

However, the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme introduced in 2014 disrupted this protection, reducing reservist pensions to less than half of what a lowest-grade sepoy received. AFT intervened in July 2023, ruling that reservists, although considered sepoys, weren’t entitled to equal OROP but deserved two-thirds pension protection.

The central government challenged this judgment, but a division bench comprising Justices Sureshwar Thakur and Sudeepti Sharma affirmed the tribunal’s order. Notably, the Army HQ had requested the government to restore the two-third protection to reservists, with the matter pending resolution for 9 years.