High court upholds Army man’s 50% disability pension, rules Centre can’t cap arrears for veterans

“While upholding the entitlement of the respondent to the benefit of rounding off of disability element from 20 per cent to 50 per cent, the impugned order dated November 10, 2022, passed by the AFT is modified to the limited extent that the said benefit shall be payable with effect from October 1, 2001, instead of January 1, 1996,” the court said on June 4.

Justices Sindhu Sharma and Shahzad Azeem heard the matter on June 4.

‘Petitioner entitled to benefit of rounding off’

• The issue as to whether armed forces personnel, who retired on completion of terms of engagement and are suffering from disability attributable to or aggravated by military service, are entitled to the benefit of broad banding/rounding off of disability element is no longer res integra in view of the judgment of the Supreme Court in ‘Union of India and Ors v Ram Avtar ‘.
• The tribunal, while allowing the original application, has relied upon the settled legal position and has rightly held the respondent entitled to the benefit of rounding off.
• The principal contention raised on behalf of the petitioners is that the respondent would be entitled to the benefit of rounding off only with effect from January 1, 2016, in terms of the circular dated February 9, 2018, and not from an earlier date.
• Because the policy of restricting arrears to three years before the filing of the original application holds the field and has not been followed by the tribunal.
• The issue regarding restriction of arrears and limitation in matters relating to disability pension stands authoritatively settled by the Supreme Court in ‘Union of India v Sgt Girish Kumar and Ors’.
• It was held that once entitlement to disability pension or its re-computation is recognised, the benefit cannot be curtailed by restricting arrears to three years preceding the filing of proceedings.
• The Supreme Court further held that objections founded on delay, laches and limitation in such matters are without merit.

Case of disability pension and challenge of Centre

The petitioner, the Union of India challenging a 2022 ATF order that granted the respondent-former, Naik Ranjit Singh, a benefit of rounding off his disability element from 20 per cent to 50 per cent for life.

The respondent, a former Naik, was enrolled in the Indian Army in September 1984 and was discharged from service in 2001 on completion of the terms of engagement. At the time of discharge, he was brought before the release medical board for his disability ‘Bilateral Sensori Neural Deafness (389)’. The release medical board assessed his disability at 20 per cent for two years. The disability claim of the petitioner was, therefore, processed, and he was granted disability pension.

The grievance projected by the petitioners was that the respondent was not invalided out of service and, therefore, in terms of the applicable policy and circular dated February 2, 2018, he could at best be granted the benefit of rounding off from January 1, 2016, and not from the date from which the tribunal has directed the grant of the said benefit.

Other courts’ ruling on disability pension

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has dismissed a plea filed by the Centre, upholding an Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) order that granted disability pension to a former Army man, along with the benefit of rounding off the disability pension from 30 per cent to 50 per cent for life.

A bench of Justices Harsimran Singh Sethi and Deepak Manchanda was dealing with a plea of the Centre challenging the AFT order, which granted the disability pension on the grounds that he was found to be suffering from disability of ‘Primary Hypertension’ during service.

“Once at the time of enrolment, respondent was medically examined and was found to be fit in all aspects and it was only during his service period that respondent was found to be suffering from disability of ‘Primary Hypertension’ that being so, the said disability has to be attributed to the military service and the unsubstantiated report of medical board cannot take away the right of respondent to claim the benefit of disability pension and that too, by rounding off the disability from 30 per cenr to 50 per cent,” the court said on May 25.

Holding that a disability detected during military service must be presumed to be attributable to the service if the individual was found medically fit at the time of enrolment, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has upheld disability pension for a retired sergeant who developed Diabetes Mellitus Type-II after serving for 27 years.

A division bench of Justices Harsimran Singh Sethi and Deepak Manchanda was dealing with a plea of the Centre challenging the Armed Forces Tribunal order that granted the benefit of disability pension, along with the benefit of rounding off of the disability pension from 20 per cent to 50 per cent for life.