Confusion between Modified Assured Career Progression Scheme (MACP) and Military Service Pay (MSP) and the need to ignore unnecessary rumours and false hopes
There
are certain messages floating on social and other media that the Supreme Court
of India has passed directions to pay ‘Military Service Pay’ with effect from
January 2006 rather than from 2008 as was granted by the Government.
This
is incorrect and there are no such directions. People are probably confusing
the recent judgment on Modified Assured Career Progression Scheme (MACP) with the
concept of Military Service Pay (MSP). Even otherwise, de hors the absence of any such decision, no parallel can be drawn
between the two issues.
As
explained in the post of 12 December 2017, the Sixth Central Pay Commission had
recommended the implementation of the ‘Modified Assured Career Progression’
Scheme (MACP) providing for the grant of three financial upgradations of pay at
the gap of 8, 16 and 24 years of service in case of stagnation, for the defence
services.
The Special
Army Instructions (SAI) on the subject had also been issued with effect from 01
January 2006 and which contained therein the stipulation of MACP. However
later, despite the existence of the said SAI, another fresh letter was issued
by the Government stating that MACP will be prospectively implemented from 01
September 2008.
Hence
ultimately, unlike other pay related modalities which were implemented with effect
from 01 January 2006, MACP was implemented with effect from 01 September 2008,
thereby not including in its scope the personnel who were released from service
between the two dates. The Chandigarh Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT)
however ruled that the pay commission had granted all pay and pension related
benefits from January 2006 and the prospective implementation was only
effectuated for ‘allowances’ and hence MACP was also to be implemented from
January 2006 since it pertained to upgradation of pay. While ordering so, the
AFT had followed the decision of the Punjab & Haryana High Court which had
earlier ruled upon the implementation of improved pay-scales of defence
personnel from 1996 rather than 1997 in an anomaly emanating out of the Fifth
Pay Commission. The decision of the AFT was challenged by the Government in the
Supreme Court but the Apex Court dismissed the appeal filed by the Union of
India thereby upholding the grant of MACP from 01 January 2006 rather than 01
September 2008.
The aspect
to be noted however in the above is that in case of MSP, the pay commission had
itself noted that it shall be applied prospectively without any arrears (Para
2.3.12 of the 6th Central Pay Commission Report). Further when the
SAI 1/S/2008 was issued, while it applied benefits of all modalities from 2006
(including MACP), it had specifically stated in Paragraph 5(d) that arrears of
MSP shall only be paid with effect from 01 September 2008. There was no such
negative stipulation for MACP. Further MACP was a replacement for the earlier
ACP while MSP was completely a new element.
Hence,
as the above would show, while the MACP was applied from 2006 but later tacitly
retrospectively withdrawn and made applicable from 2008- an action was at the
heart of the debate in Courts, there was no such controversy with regard to MSP
which was always meant to be paid prospectively from September 2008.
Though
at the surface both issues might appear to be similar to the untrained eye,
there is actually absolutely no parallel between the concepts of MACP and MSP,
and hence it is in the interest of sanity to ignore messages being circulated
that MSP arrears will be paid to all personnel with effect from 01 January
2006. One should avoid forwarding such messages since it may promote unnecessary
litigation and propel false hopes.
The
above is not in the form of legal advice but merely my humble opinion since a litigious
society is not in anybody’s interest.
COURTESY : Maj Navdeep Singh
No comments:
Post a Comment