Relationship Between Army Person's Disease & Service Rendered Needs To Be Established To Claim Disability Pension: Punjab & Haryana High Court

While directing to grant disability pension to an army officer, the Punjab & Haryana High Court said that the "causal nexus" between the disability and the service rendered by him in the military service, needs to be established.

The officer who was suffering from an eye disease ( drooping eyelid and imperfection in the eyes curvature) was denied the benefit of disability pension, on the ground that the disabilities in question are neither attributable to nor aggravated by military service.

Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Sudeepti Sharma said, "It is...required to be determined...whether there is a causal nexus inter-se the eruption of the disease, and/or the onsettings thereofs, on to his person, thus post the enrollment of the present petitioner taking place, vis-a-vis the active renditions by him of military service, wherebys, this Court may conclude that the onset of the disease but rather was a sequel of his rendering service in the Army and as such was attributable or became aggravated by his rendering military service."

Speaking for the bench Justice Thakur reiterated the disability pension can be denied to a military officer only when, "At the time of acceptance of the concerned in military service, some notings becoming recorded by the Medical Board vis-a-vis his being beset with a disease which however, becomes concluded to be yet not rendering him unfit to become enlisted."

"Any further deterioration thereofs, may also subsequently become concluded by the Medical Board, to not arise from rendition of military service nor being attributable to military service, rather the same being a congenital disease," the Court further added.

The bench said that if the disease could not be detected at the time of joining the services, the medical board should provide a reason explaining the same.

The Court also made it clear that it is mandatory for the Medical Board to follow the guidelines laid down in Chapter II of the "Guide to Medical (Military Pension), 2002 – "Entitlement: General Principles".

In the present case, the Court noted that no such note was made by the medical board indicating that the officer was suffering from the disease at the time of joining the services.

The Court also rejected the contention that the disability of the officer was less than 20%, hence the officer is not entitled to the disability pension.

Reliance was placed on Sukhvinder Singh Vs. Union of India and Others, [(2014) 14 SCC 36] to underscore that wherever a member of the armed forces is invalided out of service, it perforce has to be assumed that his disability was found to be above twenty per cent.

In light of the above, the Court set aside the AFT decision wherein it rejected the officer's claim of disability pension, directing to process the same within three months.

Mr.Sandeep Bansal, Advocate for the petitioner.

Mr. Rohit Verma, Senior Panel Counsel, for the respondent – UOI.

Title: Kala Singh v. Union of India and Others

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