The Bombay high court on Monday dismissed a public interest litigation challenging the recent amendment to the Maharashtra Legislature Members Pension Act, 1976, which increased the monthly pension of MLAs and members of legislative council (MLCs) from from Rs 25,000 to Rs 40,000.
The Bombay high court on Monday dismissed a public interest litigation challenging the recent amendment to the Maharashtra Legislature Members Pension Act, 1976, which increased the monthly pension of MLAs and members of legislative council (MLCs) from from Rs 25,000 to Rs 40,000.
A division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice BP Colabawalla dismissed the PIL filed by journalists, Suryakant Deshmukh and Kiran Naik on the grounds that it was a policy decision of the government and the court could not interfere with the same.
The PIL contended that the amendment was arbitrary and violated article 14 of Constitution which guarantees equality. Further, the increase would put a burden of Rs 30 crore on the exchequer per annum, claimed the petitioners.
Government employees such as class four workers, kotwals, teachers and librarians working at Anganwadis (primary schools) were not considered for increase in pension, said the petition.
There was no justification for the increase, argued advocate Pradeep Patil, who represented the petitioner, adding that the elected representatives in Maharashtra were quite well-off, and many of them owned sugar factories or educational institutions and moved about in expensive cars.
According to the PIL, the increase in pension for this category has been made seven times since 2000, while some other categories such as artists were ignored. In Gujarat, as per the PIL, elected representatives do not get any pension.
The petitioners said the monthly pension of MPs is Rs20,000. In Madhya Pradesh, the monthly pension to legislators is Rs 7,000, in Karnataka Rs 25,000, in Rajasthan and Haryana Rs 7,500 and in Tamil Nadu Rs 12,000.
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