PIL challenges pension hike for Maharashtra legislators

A public interest litigation in the Bombay High Court has challenged a recent amendment to 'Maharashtra Legislature Members Pension Act, 1976', which increased the monthly pension of MLAs and MLCs from Rs 25,000 to Rs 40,000.
The bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud today issued notice to the Advocate General Darius Khambata, and sought state's reply by November 29.
The petitioners Suryakant Deshmukh and Kiran Naik, both journalists, argue that the amendment is arbitrary and violates article 14 of Constitution which guarantees equality.
The Government employees such as class four workers, kotwals, teachers and librarians working at Anganwadis (primary schools) were not considered for increase in pension, says the petition.

The increase would put a burden of Rs 30 crore on the exchequer per annum, the PIL says.
There was no justification for the increase, argued advocate Pradeep Patil, the petitioners' lawyer.

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, so they did not require pension, advocate Patil said.
PIL says that the increase in pension for this category had been made seven times since 2000, while some other categories such as journalists and artists were not considered. In Gujarat, as per the PIL, elected representatives do not get any pension.

As per the PIL, MPs get a monthly pension Rs 20,000. In Madhya Pradesh, the monthly pension to legislators is Rs 7,000 per month, in Karnataka Rs 25,000, in Rajasthan and Haryana Rs 7,500 and in Tamil Nadu Rs 12,000.