Hyderabad: Full pension to pensioners case adjourned to June 15

Hyderabad: The High Court Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan and Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy heard the tag of Writ Petitions through video conference on Monday, the PILs challenging deferment of pensions by 25 per cent for pensioners and salaries to the State Government employees by 50 per cent. Advocates S. Satyam Reddy, Ravishankar Jandhyala and some retired State government employees filed separate writ petitions, aggrieved by the action of the State government.

This deferment has created a lot of problems to the employees as well as the pensioners as they are not able to meet their daily expenditure and more particularly, the pensioners, who are at the fag end of their lives and the only source of income for them is pension.

Moreover, deferment in their pension has forced them to approach the High Court as they are not able to meet their medical expenditure, which has become burdensome for them during this lockdown period. The petitioners sought a direction to set aside the G.O. No. 27 through which the Government has ordered for deferment. Counsel for one of the petitioner, Chikkudu Prabhakar insisted upon the Bench to consider the plea of the 3-lakh pensioners throughout Telangana. Since this deferment has sent their lives into tizzy and with this meagre pension, the pensioners are unable to get on with their lives during this lockdown.

Further, pensioners are unable to fetch their medicines, purchase groceries, expenses towards regular checkups for their ailments. They added that payment of pension is not a favour done by the State on its pensioners, rather it is their right, that too, during this hard circumstances prevailing in the country.

Advocate General Banda Shivananda Prasad informed the Bench that the State Government would like to argue the case, hence requested for adjournment. For further hearing, the case has been adjourned to June 15.