Supreme Court Orders ₹1 Lakh Compensation To Air Force Official Who Faced Unnecessary Litigation For Overtaking Senior's Vehicle

The Supreme Court ordered payment of Rupees One Lakh compensation to an Airman of the Indian Air Force who was foisted with unnecessary litigation for overtaking a Squadron Leader's vehicle at a railway crossing.

The bench comprising Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Sandeep Mehta heard a case where the Air Man-appellant was reprimanded and an admonition order was passed against him for overtaking his senior's vehicle (Squadron leader) at the railway crossings. However, the appellant was granted relief by the Armed Forces Tribunal but denied compensation for the harassment he faced while contesting the unnecessary litigation into a trivial dispute that could be mutually settled.

Calling the punishment of admonition against the appellant as unjustified and uncalled for, the Court observed that “small excesses like overtaking the vehicle of one's senior at a railway crossing may be an incident of indiscipline in defense services, but the balance and proportion that needs to be maintained between such an infraction and its punishment will always be at the core of good governance.”

The Court observed that the small incident was escalated beyond proportion and there was also an element of vindictiveness in the action taken against the appellant. Affirming the AFT's order, the court observed as follows:

“The findings of the Tribunal are categorical. It found that the matter was escalated beyond proportion and there is also an element of vindictiveness in the action taken against the appellant. More than anything, the lone battle of the appellant against the unfair and arbitrary treatment meted out to him, we think is the cause and reason for the indignation. The institution did not protect him, instead it put its full force behind respondent No. 7 (Squadron Leader). Fortunately, the Tribunal set the record straight.”

The Court said that the incident involved in the present case could have been resolved if the senior officials had intervened at the right time.

“When the institutions that we build grow beyond proportion, officers act mechanically and many a times helplessly, ignore the simple and readily available remedies that are available in our normal lives. We would have thought that an incident like this would have ended if a senior officer had at the right time intervened and resolved the issue by taking into account the emotional aspect of the dispute. Perhaps a simple apology by respondent No. 7 would have gone a long way, but that did not happen, and we are now called upon to assess the economic value of the indignity and proceed to grant monetary compensation to him.”

Considering the fact that the appellant suffered a loss of dignity and wasted an ample amount of time in contesting the unnecessary litigation, the court deemed it fit to direct the respondents to pay an amount of Rs. 1 lakh to the appellant towards compensation for having suffered an unnecessary and long-drawn litigation that was foisted on him.

“We are aware of how insignificant the monetary value of loss of dignity could be, but legal remedies that they are, enable us to settle it only as a measure, a token of our concern and in recognition of a citizen's identity and dignity.”, the court said.

Accordingly, the appeal was allowed.

Appearances:

Advocate Ms. Vanshaja Shukla appeared for the appellant-Air Man

Senior Advocate Mr. R. Bala appeared for the respondents.

Case Title: S. P. PANDEY VERSUS UNION OF INDIA & ORS.

Citation : 2024 LiveLaw (SC) 824

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