A post (here, here, and here) is going viral on social media, claiming that in Writ Petition No. 405/2023, the Karnataka High Court delivered a judgment in favour of pensioners, stating that if a life certificate is not submitted by a pensioner to the bank, the bank must visit the pensioner’s house and ascertain the reason for non-submission before stopping their pension. Through this article, let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: The Karnataka High Court, in its judgment in Writ Petition No. 405/2023, stated that banks are required to verify the reason for a pensioner’s failure to submit the life certificate before stopping the pension.
Fact: On 03 January 2023, Writ Petition No. 405/2023 was filed in the Karnataka High Court by a 102-year-old pensioner named H. Nagabhushana Rao, who receives a pension under the Swatantra Sainik Samman Gaurava Dhana (Freedom Fighter’s Pension). He sought an order from the Karnataka High Court directing the Ministry of Home Affairs to pay the arrears of his pension, which had been withheld for 13 months due to the non-submission of his life certificate. On 17 February 2023, the Bengaluru Bench of the Karnataka High Court directed the Ministry of Home Affairs to pay the withheld pension arrears. The court observed that while it is the pensioner’s duty to submit the life certificate, the bank also has a responsibility to check in cases of non-submission rather than immediately stopping pension payments. However, the High Court clarified that this judgment should not be interpreted as a blanket directive requiring bank officials to obtain life certificates in all cases. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
To learn more about Writ Petition No. 405/2023 filed in the Karnataka High Court, we visited the Karnataka High Court website and reviewed the judgment issued in this case.
As per the case details, on 03 January 2023, this petition was filed in the Karnataka High Court by a 102-year-old pensioner named H. Nagabhushana Rao, who receives a pension under the Swatantra Sainik Samman Gaurava Dhana (Freedom Fighter’s Pension). He sought a directive from the Karnataka High Court to the Ministry of Home Affairs to pay the arrears of his pension, which had been stopped for 13 months due to the non-submission of his life certificate.
On 17 February 2024, Karnataka High Court Bengaluru bench Judge M. Nagaprasanna, while delivering the judgment on this writ petition, directed the Ministry of Home Affairs to pay the pension arrears that had been withheld due to the pensioner’s failure to submit the life certificate to the bank.
Background of Writ Petition No. 405/2023 filed in the Karnataka High Court:
The pension of H. Nagabhushana Rao (the petitioner) was abruptly stopped on 01 November 2017 because he had not submitted his Life Certificate for the year 2017-18. Nearly 13 months later, the petitioner submitted his Life Certificate on 24 December 2018.
Following the submission of the Life Certificate by the petitioner, the Government issued a sanction letter belatedly releasing the pension for the period from 24 December 2018 to 05 October 2020. However, the arrears for the earlier period, from 01 November 2017 to 24 December 2018, were not released, amounting to Rs. 3.71 lakhs.
Consequently, he approached the Karnataka High Court with a petition (Writ Petition No. 7813 of 2020) seeking the release of the arrears. On 24 June 2020, the court directed the respondents in the case to take appropriate action within two weeks. Since no action was taken, the petitioner filed a contempt petition (C.C.C. No. 449 of 2020), following which the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a sanction letter dated 05 December 2020.
However, the arrears were not released stating that the Life Certificate was not submitted. Hence, he once again approached the court (Writ Petition No. 22468 of 2021) in 2021. The court considered the petition and directed the Government of India to take appropriate action and disburse the arrears in accordance with the terms of the scheme.
Following this, the Government issued a communication stating that the pensioner was not entitled to arrears as he had failed to submit the Life Certificate. The Union Government submitted that it was not responsible for deductions or non-payment of the pension and that the non-submission of the Life Certificate would automatically stop pension payments since the entry is made by the Bank.
The Bank argued that, as per the guidelines of the scheme, the Life Certificate must be submitted and that it is not their responsibility to collect it from the pensioner.
The single-judge bench, comprising Justice M. Nagaprasanna, noted that the petitioner had been a recipient of Swatantra Sainik Samman Gaurava Dhana as a Freedom Fighter from the Government of India since 1974.
According to the guidelines for the payment of pensions under the Central Samman Pension Scheme, the Bank is expected to visit the pensioner if the Life Certificate is not submitted. This needs to be done to find out the reason for non-submission as this would help the Banks to have a timely update in case the pensioner has passed away and recover any excess payments made.
The court stated that although it is the duty of the pensioner to submit the Life Certificate, the banker also has a responsibility to check in cases of non-submission rather than stopping pension payments immediately.
The court also expressed its regret for the apathy shown towards the petitioner who is very old. It emphasised that pension is a right and carries broader significance in ensuring socio-economic justice.
The court, however, clarified that the banks are not obliged to check in every case but must do so in situations where pensioners face genuine difficulties in visiting the Bank.
To sum it up, the Karnataka High Court in its judgment in Writ Petition No. 405/2023 clearly stated that the bank is not obligated to verify the reason for a pensioner’s failure to submit the life certificate in every case.
