Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court has issued notice to the central and state governments over a PIL challenging the validity of the market-linked New Pension Scheme (NPS), applicable to government employees who joined on or after January 1, 2004.
A division bench of Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy and Justice V M Pancholi issued the notice on October 7 and posted the matter for further hearing after a month.
Petitioner Pranav Desai, a retired scientist of ISRO, stated in his petition that the market-linked new pension scheme provides only annuity and gratuity in place of pension, and has no security for family members of an employee if he passes away.
“Old pension scheme, on the other hand, provided for the 50 per cent of last pay, floor pension, family pension if retiree dies, medical benefits and death gratuity,” he said.
Pension is not a gratuitous payment but deferred payment. Compulsory imposition of NPS violates Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution. Government is exercising economic duress by imposing NPS as it will not help employees in his old age but may in all probability make him starve, the petitioner alleged.
“Mathematical simulation shows that a bulk of employees will get annuity less that subsistence of about Rs 14,000. Also, the NPS provides for no family pension unlike OPS, in the event of the employee passing away,” he said.
