Supreme Court Seeks Urgent Hearing for 77-Year-Old Cancer Patient’s 9-Year-Old Pension Dispute

The Supreme Court directed the Allahabad High Court to grant an out-of-turn hearing to a 77-year-old cancer patient whose plea for pension and post-retiral benefits has remained pending for nearly nine years.

A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi asked the High Court to consider the matter sympathetically.

The petitioner, Ram Shanker, argued that pension is not a “bounty” but a vested right linked to the right to livelihood under Article 21 of the Constitution.

He claimed that prolonged judicial delay in deciding his case amounted to a violation of his fundamental rights.

[Ram Shanker v. State of UP]