Gurkhas lose pension legal battle

Former Gurkha soldiers have lost their High Court battle over a pensions deal with the British Government they say has left them struggling to live.

Three retired members of the famous Brigade of Gurkhas failed in a legal challenge affecting thousands of others.

Lawyers for the three – Kumar Shrestha, Kamal Purja and Sambahadur Gurung, all in their late 30s and retired because of ill health – argued they had been treated unlawfully and unfairly.

They said men who enlisted before July last year but retired after had been denied equal pensions because their years of service up to that date were valued at only between 24 per cent and 36 per cent of British rates.

The Gurkhas complained that the new pension transfer arrangements enacted last year were irrational and discriminated against them on the grounds of age.

Rejecting their application for judicial review, Mr Justice Ouseley said the MoD had acted reasonably.

He said: «If there was indirect discrimination on the grounds of age or ‘other status’, it was justified and proportionate.»