BAFF

The British Gurkha Welfare Society has gone back to court seeking a judicial review in its pension case on behalf of British Gurkha veterans who served before 1997.

Gurkha pension case reaches court

(BBC) Campaigners representing retired Gurkhas are going to the High Court later in a battle over their pensions.

The appeal concerns 24,000 veterans who served before July 1997 and are entitled to only a third of the monthly payment of their UK counterparts.

The British Gurkha Welfare Society is seeking a judicial review against an earlier ruling in the case.

The Ministry of Defence says Gurkha pensions are paid over a longer period and amount to the same final level.

It comes after Gurkha veterans with a minimum four years' service won the right to settle in Britain after a high-profile legal challenge led by actress Joanna Lumley.

The latest case followed an offer by the MoD in March 2007 to transfer Gurkhas' pensions into one of the mainstream armed forces schemes.

The change did not apply to those who retired before 1997, the year the Gurkhas base formally transferred from Hong Kong to the UK.

According to the British Gurkha Welfare Society, those who retired before 1997 have an "inferior monthly pension".

It added that there were also about 7,000 Gurkha veterans who served for less than 15 years receive no pension at all and around 5,000 veterans and widows who currently rely heavily on charity from its own scheme.

• full article from BBC News: Gurkha pension case reaches court

George Howarth, Labour MP and primary sponsor of a parliamentary motion that supports an improved Gurkha pension said:

The fact that this small but significant group of veterans are still discriminated against shows that there is still more to do to ensure that the Gurkhas are treated properly and fairly.

Ann Widdecome, Conservative MP and long time champion of the Gurkhas:

The Gurkhas have always been an integral part of the British Armed Forces, fighting the same wars and carrying out the same duties as British soldiers. It is an injustice to give these veterans a pension based on their country of origin instead of the country in whose Army they loyally served.