Report No. 53

4. Existing laws relating to pensions.-

The scheme of the Pensions Act, 1871, will be examined in detail later.1 But it would be of interest to refer to two small statutory provisions relevant to pensions. One is to be found in the Transfer of Property Act,2 which enacts that a pension cannot be transferred by an act of parties. The other is to be found in the Code of Civil Procedure,3 whereunder a pension cannot be attached in execution of a decree.

The eligibility for pension, its amount, the conditions for its availability and various other matters of detail are, so far as pensions of retired public officers are concerned, regulated by rules made or continued under the Constitution, supplemented in a few cases by Acts passed after the commencement of the Constitution. This Report is primarily concerned with the effect of the Pensions Act, 1871, on the right to sue for a pension for which retired members of the public services (or members of their family) are eligible (though, of course, the Act takes within its sweep various other types of pensions also). We now proceed to examine the scheme of the Act, as such examination is necessary for a proper understanding of the provision to be altered.

1. See para. 5, infra.

2. Section 6(g), Transfer of Property Act, 1882.

3. Section 60(1)(g), Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.