The constitutionality of pension benefits granted to the former Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) under the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly (Officers and Members Salary, Emoluments, and Pension) Act, 1956, has been upheld by the Rajasthan High Court.
A division bench of Justices Pushpendra Singh Bhati and Justice Vinit Kumar Mathur, of the Delhi High Court, rejected a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) questioning the constitutionality of pensions for ex-legislators. The petition raised doubts about whether it was constitutional to extend pensionary benefits to former MLAs and said that this was an unjustifiable financial burden on the public exchequer.
But the High Court found the pleas to be unconvincing and determined the pension provisions in the 1956 Act to be legally valid. The bench stated that the legislators can be given very important public duties, and the state legislature has the power to make laws on salaries, allowances, and pensionary benefits for the legislators.
The court also observed that pension schemes for the former lawmakers are not confined to Rajasthan, but can be found in some other states and at the national level. The bench says that all such provisions are not automatically arbitrary or unconstitutional because of the amount of money involved in the expenditure from the public treasury.
The PIL had challenged the provisions of the pension-related provisions in the Act on the basis that they violated the principle of equality and public accountability in the Constitution. But the High Court did not agree with the challenge and rejected the petition.
The decision will likely help to strengthen the pension claims of the former MLAs of Rajasthan and could have implications for other pension discontent cases involving legislators in other states.