News

Gurkha takes pensions battle to High Court

October 29, 2009

LAWYERS for a Farnborough Gurkha society have accused the Ministry of Defence of failing in its duty to give fair pension payments to thousands of Gurkhas.

Representing the British Gurkha Welfare Society (BGWS) – based in Wren Way – lawyers asked a High Court judge to declare that Gurkha veterans who served in the British Army before July 1997 were the victims of unlawful discrimination.

Gurkha veterans wearing poppies and campaign medals packed Court One at the Royal Courts of Justice in London at the start of their two-day application for judicial review on Wednesday.

Declan O’Dempsey, appearing for the BGWS, said there were widely publicised changes to the immigration rules this year that acknowledged “the debt of gratitude that this country owes to the Brigade of Gurkhas”.

Mr O’Dempsey was referring to the campaign in which high-profile figures, including actress Joanna Lumley, played a role in winning Gurkha veterans the right to settle in the UK.

He said: “At the lowest there is an emerging realisation that Gurkhas should be treated as having a special and equal claim, among other things, to live in the UK.

“This is not due to their links with the UK but because they voluntarily and courageously protected the security of this country for almost 200 years, with as much valour and commitment as if it was their own home nation.”

Mr O’Dempsey said today’s challenge was against rules that said former Gurkhas who retired before July 1 1997 were not entitled to be transferred to the Armed Forces Pension Schemes that would give them payments equal to those enjoyed by UK soldiers.

The men’s own pension paid substantially lower benefits based on the cost of living in Nepal, the Gurkhas’ homeland to which veterans traditionally retired before changes in UK immigration law.

Many Gurkhas believed they were being “unequally treated” by the MoD, Mr O’Dempsey told Mr Justice Burnett.

He said: “They believe that, although they took the same risks as other members of the British Army and have served with wide praise and distinction in this country’s interventions and wars, they are not being treated with the same effect as regards matters of welfare, including their pensions, as other members of the British armed forces.”

BGWS chairman Tikendra Dewan is one of the two lead claimants in the case seeking damages against the MoD under the Human Rights Act for its alleged failure to give them equal treatment.

The other is Surbana Adhikari, of St Saviours Road, Reading, who served for 15 years with the Gurkhas and left in February 1997 as a Corporal.

Mr Dewan, of Hinstock Close, Farnborough, enlisted in September 1971 and served almost 31 years before retiring in July 2002 as a Major.

As he was still serving after the July 1997 cut-off date, he can transfer his part of his pension to one of the AFPSs but only the last five years of service.

His lawyers say the other 26 years will be transferred using a calculation that will only give him about one third of what ex-soldiers receive.

| Submit Comments | View Comments (2)