SC issues notice to Centre on plea challenging Pension Validation act
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New Delhi, Nov 18,
The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Union Government on a writ petition challenging the constitutional validity of the recently enacted Pension Validation Act, 2025—a law that has already sparked nationwide protests among central government employees and pensioners. The petition, filed by the National Coordination Committee of Pensioners Associations along with several others, came up for admission before a Bench comprising Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Justice Atul S. Chandurkar. After hearing senior advocate Vikas Singh for the petitioners, the Bench ordered issuance of notice and directed that the matter be tagged with an earlier pending plea, W.P. (C) No. 525 of 2025.
The petitioners have argued that the Pension Validation Act is unconstitutional, arbitrary and violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution. Their primary contention is that the Act grants the Union Government sweeping powers to determine the effective date of implementation of pay commission recommendations, a move that allows the Centre to bypass arrear payments even when delays are caused by administrative inaction. The challenge further states that the law introduces a new basis for classification of pensioners solely on the date of retirement, which they argue is contrary to the settled principles laid down in the landmark D.S. Nakara judgment of 1982. In that decision, the Court had held that all pensioners form one homogeneous class and cannot be discriminated against on the basis of the date of retirement. Petitioners have also cited the Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling in the S-30 pensioners matter, where the Court reiterated that arbitrary differentiation among pensioners is impermissible.
The case has quickly gained national traction as pensioners’ bodies intensify pressure on the government to roll back the legislation. Last week, the Forum of Civil Pensioners Associations—an umbrella body representing 56 organisations—passed a strongly worded resolution seeking the immediate scrapping of the Act. The Forum warned that the law has severe long-term implications, not just for an estimated 65 lakh central government employees and pensioners but also for several crore state government employees once the next round of pay revision exercises begins across states. According to the Forum, the Act effectively nullifies decades of jurisprudence that established pension as a continuing right linked to dignity, equity and financial security in post-retirement years.
With the Supreme Court formally seeking the Centre’s response, the challenge to the Pension Validation Act has entered a critical phase. The Court’s decision to hear the matter alongside the earlier pending petition signals that the constitutional questions surrounding the legislation will now be examined comprehensively. As discontent continues to build among pensioners across the country, the upcoming hearings are expected to have far-reaching consequences for the pension framework governing central and state employees for years to come.
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