OROP KRANTI : Justice Katju & OROP Announcement

                              Justice Katju Tears Into Government's OROP Announcement

2015-09-05 20:34:55

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In a write-up soon after the announcement of OROP 

by the Defence Minister in which VRS personnel were 

left out from the scheme of things, Justice 

Markanday Katju called the Government declaration a 

"Biblical  `Peace of God which passeth all 

understanding'". 

Katju wrote: "Firstly, where did the issue of VRS or 

premature retirement come into the picture, like a 

jack in the box, or like Banquo’s ghost in 

Shakespeare’s Macbeth, or Caesar’s ghost in Julius 

Caesar? There was no inkling about it earlier from 

the side of the Govt. Everyone knows that an army 

officer can take premature retirement with pension on 

putting in a minimum of 20 years service ( for jawans 

the qualifying period is 15 years ). How can such 

persons, who comprise about half the officers be 

deprived of OROP ? This had not even be discussed 

earlier. Suddenly, OROP has disappeared 

forthe premature retirees, like the 

Cheshire Cat disappearing in Alice in Wonderland, or 

some devata becoming ‘ antardhan’, and instead a 

 `thenga ‘ has been shown to the premature retirees."

Justice Katju further wrote that "once the principle of

OROP was accepted, where was the difficulty in 

revising pensions every 2 years as demanded? This is 

the age of computers, and with an appropriate 

software in fact pensions can be revised almost 

instantaneously, with a touch of a button. Why does it

 require 5 years? In fact the ex servicemen were too

 liberal in modifying their genuine demand for annual

revision to a 2 year revision. Perhaps they thought 

they should give some latitude to the government for

 it to ‘ save face ‘."

Thirdly, Justice Katju asked, "what will a one man

judicial commission do ? It will be a joke."

Katju hit the final blow with characteristic, Brechtian ruthlessness: "It is said, and I may be pardoned for the crude analogy,

a Commission is like a commode.

First you sit on it, then there is a report, and then the matter settles down".

(Mr Parrikar and Mr Jetley – are you listening? 

– Chander Kamboj)

Katju rounded off by commenting that "the Govt. of India’s announcement today, instead of solving the problem, has made things murkier than ever. Vinashkale Vipreet Buddhi..."