Retirement age disparity & service condition of armed forces need revisit, says SC

NEW DELHI: At a time when govt is attempting to shed the country's colonial vestiges, Supreme Court on Friday asked it to set up an expert panel for revisiting British-era prescribed retirement age and service conditions of armed forces personnel, including Coast Guards.A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and justice Joymalya Bagchi passed this order on an appeal filed by govt challenging a Delhi HC order quashing Rule 20(1) and Rule 20(2) of Coast Guard (General) Rules, 1986, which provided that officers of rank of commandant and below would retire at the age of 57 years, while those above commandant would retired on attaining 60 years.Appearing for govt, additional solicitor general Archana Pathak Dave said the HC erred in comparing Coast Guards, which comes under ministry of defence, with central armed police forces like ITBP, CRPF, CISF, and Shashatra Seema Bal. Working of Coast Guard personnel is completely different from the CAPFs personnel and that they come under different ministries, she said.Though the bench stayed the operation of the HC order, thus reviving the different retirement age of two cadres of Coast Guard officers, it said, "It is high time that these regulations governing the service conditions and retirement age are reviewed. Govt cannot be stuck with the conditions envisaged and drafted in the 1940s."

In its order, the CJI-led bench said, "Operation of the impugned order shall remain stayed. However, govt shall constitute a committee of domain experts to revisit the conditions of service, including the age of retirement, and submit a report to the court."On Nov 24 last year, a division bench of the Delhi HC comprising justices C Hari Shankar and Om Prakash Shukla had quashed the two provisions of Rule 20 and said, "We hold, therefore, that the age of superannuation of 60 would apply to officers of the Coast Guard at all ranks."This judgment was inspired by an earlier decision of the high court in 'Dev Sharma vs Indo-Tibetan Border Police' case, in which the distinction in retirement age of officers up to commandant and above were erased. The SC had upheld the HC's Dev Sharma judgment.