The Supreme Court on Monday, 20 March, declined to accept the sealed cover note submitted by the Centre in connection with the payment of pension arrears to retired defence personnel under the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme.
CJI DY Chandrachud remarked that there cannot be "great secrecy" in the court.
"I am personally averse to sealed covers. What happens is, we see something, he does not see. And we decide the case without showing it to him. This is fundamentally contrary to the judicial process. There cannot be secrecy in the Court. The Court has to be transparent."
OROP Scheme: Under the One Rank One Pension scheme or OROP scheme, uniform pension is to be paid to armed forces personnel retiring at the same rank with the same length of service, regardless of when they completed their service or retired.