LI Network
Published on: November 17, 2023 at 14:45 IST
The Kerala High Court has issued an interim order deferring the recovery of disability pension, totaling Rs. 1,23,900, from a 26-year-old individual with an 80% mental disability.
Justice Devan Ramachandran granted the temporary relief for a duration of three weeks and requested the records related to the order issued by Bhoothakulam Grama Panchayat, which called for the return of the disability pension and the denial of related benefits.
The petitioner, suffering from severe mental disability, received the disability pension, which the Grama Panchayat later ordered to be repaid, amounting to Rs. 1,23,900 from September 2010 to September 2020.
The State government had set an annual income limit of Rs. 3 Lakhs for granting disability pension, later revised to Rs. 1 Lakh from April 2014. The petitioner argued that the recovery was illegal, unjust, and arbitrary, contending that the modification or stoppage of the pension should only have prospective effects, with no scope for recovery.
The petitioners asserted that the Grama Panchayat’s order was in violation of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution, as the annual ceiling limit for disability pension applicants was Rs. 3,600, and the revision of the upper income limit was necessary in proportion to the salary increase for government employees. They also claimed that the pension amount was insufficient to meet the needs of the petitioner and his father’s medical expenses.
Justice Devan Ramachandran temporarily stayed the recovery process for three weeks and called for the records leading to the impugned order.
The petition seeks to quash the orders directing the recovery of the stipulated amount and the revision of the pension, aiming to revive the earlier Government Order fixing Rs. 3 Lakhs as the benefits for disability pension.
