Delhi HC upholds soldiers’ disability pension order, says ’while we sip hot cappuccinos by fireplace…’

The Delhi High Court affirmed the grant of disability pension to two soldiers while hearing appeals moved by the Union of India against the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT)’s grant of disability pension to them, reported the Bar and Bench on March 31.

The bench, headed by Justice C Hari Shankar and Justice Ajay Digpaul, observed that the disease and disability possibilities come as a package deal when one goes to serve the country as a soldier.

“The bravest of soldiers is prone, given the conditions in which he serves the nation, to fall prey to bodily ailments which, at times, may be disabling in nature, rendering him unable to continue in military service. In such circumstances, the least that the nation can do, by way of recompense for the selfless service that the soldier has lent it, is to provide comfort and solace during the years that remain,” the Bar and Bench quoted the bench as saying.

Explaining the reason for provisions for the grant of financial benefits being introduced, the bench stated that these help soldiers who encounter disease or disability due to military service.

The bench also questioned if the selfless service rendered by soldiers can ever be truly compensated.

“(John F Kennedy said) ‘Ask not what your country can do for you; ask for what you can do for your country.’ There are those of us who eulogize and revere these words, but stop there. Then there are those who make it part of their lives, and are willing to sacrifice their all for their country – who, while we sip our hot cappuccinos by the fireplace, are braving icy winds at the border, willing to lay down their lives at a moment’s notice. Can anything, that the nation, and we as its citizens, give to these true sons of the motherland, ever be too much?” the court remarked.

What is the case?

Gawas Anil Madso, who joined the army in 1985, was among the ones who were discharged from military service in 2015 after being diagnosed with diabetes mellitus (DM) type II.

Hearing the two appeals moved by the Union of India against the grant of disability pension to two soldiers by the AFT, the court disagreed with the decision not to grant Gawas Anil Madso disability pension.

Earlier, the release medical board (RMB) concluded that Gawas would suffer 20 per cent disability for life and added that he was not entitled to disability pension.

To this, the Delhi HC bench disagreed. “The RMB Report is completely bereft of reasons, as to why, when the respondent (Madso) admittedly became a sufferer of DM 34 years after induction in service, the DM could be regarded as not attributable to military service,” Bar and Bench quoted the bench as saying.

Acknowledging a service rule that a health condition arising during military service cannot automatically be presumed to have been caused by such service, the bench mentioned thatthe soldier doesn’t have to prove the health condition is attributable to military service.

The bench, in its conclusion, stated that the army authorities have to show that the deceased is not a result of military service.

“While we are not doctors, it is a matter of common knowledge that diabetes is a disease which can be caused, and exacerbated, by stressful living conditions. The fact that the onset of the disease might have been while the officer was on a peace posting cannot, therefore, be determinative of the issue of whether the disease was, was not attributable to military service. In such a case, the RMB has a greater responsibility to identify the cause of the disease, so that a clear case, dissociating the disease and its onset, from the military service of the claimant officer, is established,” the court observed.

Taking account of Madso’s case, the bench upheld the AFT’s decision to order the grant of disability pension to Madso.

HC on Amin Chand’s plea

The court also ruled in favour of Amin Chand, who joined the army in 2005 and was due to retire in 2020. He was diagnosed with Peripheral Arterial Occlusive Disease in his right lower limb before his retirement. He was assessed to have a 20 per cent disability, added Bar and Bench.

He, too, was denied disability pension, and in the 27 March ruling, the court dismissed the Centre’s appeal against this verdict as well.

“A non-speaking report, merely holding, without prelude or preface, that the disease, though it arose during the military service of the claimant, was not attributable to or aggravated by, military service, cannot suffice to deny him disability pension,” the court said.