"No work, no pay" is the general principle, which means that an employee is not entitled to wages for the period when they haven't worked. However, pensioners are being paid even for not working at all. Is it a bounty or

In D.S. Nakara Vs. Union of India, AIR 1983 SC 130 , the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court has held that pension is not only compensation for loyal service rendered in the past, but also by the broader significance it is a social welfare measure rendering socio-economic justice by providing economic security in the fall of life when physical and mental prowess is ebbing corresponding to the aging process and, therefore, one is required to fall back upon savings. The Court emphasized on three features while describing the nature of pension given to a government servant on retirement, thereof: Pension is neither a bounty nor a matter of grace depending upon the sweet will of the employer and it creates a vested right; Pension is not an ex-gratia payment but it is a payment for the past service rendered; and It is a social welfare measure rendering socio-economic justice to those who in the pinnacle of their life ceaselessly toiled for the employer on an assurance that in their old age they would not be left in lurch. The proposition that the pension and gratuity are not regarded as bounty by the state but these are regarded as statutory rights has been reiterated by the Supreme Court in several cases. ( D.V. Kapoor v. Union of India, AIR 1990 SC 1923 ).