Chief Justice of India refuses sealed cover envelope in OROP case, calls for transparency

New Delhi (India), March 19, 2023: Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud, hearing the One Rank One Pension (OROP) case today, expressed his disapproval of the practice of using sealed cover envelopes for submissions to courts.

He refused to accept a sealed cover envelope submitted by the Attorney General of India containing the decision of the Defense Ministry on the payment of pensions. Instead, he asked the government’s top lawyer to either read it or take it back.

The Chief Justice voiced his opposition to sealed covers, stating that “there has to be transparency in court” and that he wanted to put an end to “the sealed cover business.” He further emphasized that the use of sealed covers goes completely against settled judicial principles and can only be resorted to when it is about a source or endangering someone’s life.

In the OROP case, he acknowledged the government’s difficulties with the payment of arrears to ex-service personnel but stressed the need to know the plan of action. The Attorney General then read the report, which stated that the budget outlay is not able to meet this huge outflow in one go and that resources are limited and expenses need to be regulated. The finance ministry was taken into confidence, and it has said it is unable to meet this outflow in one go.

A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala is currently hearing the Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement’s (IESM) plea over the payment of OROP dues. The defense ministry has recently filed an affidavit and a compliance note in the top court, giving the time schedule for payment of the arrears of Rs. 28,000 crore to ex-servicemen for the years 2019–22.

The Chief Justice’s comments reiterate the need for transparency and accountability in the court system, particularly when it comes to matters as important as pension payments for ex-servicemen.