A Supreme Court order in the Major Dhanapalan case on September 4, 2012, considered a landmark victory in the armed forces’ long-drawn legal battle to get an anomaly in the 4th pay panel fixed, had directed the government to pay the petitioners and all affected officers, arrears along with a six per cent interest to be calculated from January 1, 2006 instead of January 1, 1986.
Due to faulty implementation of the 1986 Pay Commission, Armed Forces Personnel have ended up getting lesser pay-scales than their civilian counterparts. This happened after the hike recommended in form of rank-pay-basically a hardship allowance-was deducted out of their basic pay.
This anomaly not only affected officers who were serving in the armed forces prior to 1986. It got carried over from the 4th pay commission when an integrated pay scale of `2,300-`5,100 was fixed for officers from Second Lieutenant to Brigadier or their equivalents in the Navy and the Air Force.
That apart, the rank pay authorised for Captains up to Brigadiers ranging from `200 to `1,200 was to be paid along with the basic pay for all intents and purposes.
However, while fixing the new pay scales, the rank pay was deducted out of the basic pay, instead of being an additional emolument in view of their military service-related hardship, resulting in a financial loss to all officers.
The Defence Ministry’s December 27 order complied with the apex court verdict to re-fix the initial pay of the affected officers of the three services under the 4th pay commission.
However, it refused the same benefit to those affected by the carryover of the anomaly in the 5th and 6th pay commissions.
“As the said order is for re-fixation of pay as on January 1, 1986, and as this sanction is in compliance with these judicial pronouncements, it is clarified there shall be no change in respect of Special Instructions of Army, Navy and Air Force issued on December 19, 1997 (5th pay panel) and October 11, 2008 for Army and October 18, 2008 for Navy and Air Force (both for 6th pay panel),” the ministry order said, leaving all those who joined the forces post-1986 fuming.