SC dismisses plea for removal of pension to ex-parliamentarians

New Delhi, April 17: The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the provision for pension and other allowances to former parliamentarians and their spouses as it dismissed a plea by NGO Lok Prahari challenging the grant to former lawmakers.

"The plea is dismissed," said a bench of Justice J. Chelameswar and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul pointing out that the authority of Parliament is wide enough to cover the provision of the Salaries, Allowances, and Pension of Members of Parliament 1954 providing for pension and other allowances to former parliamentarians and their spouses, including unlimited free travel.

The terms and conditions, including grant of pension and other benefits, of a constitutional office to which a person is appointed or elected is a matter of policy choice and the "appropriate legislature would be the constitutionally designated authority to determine" the same, the judgment said.