New Delhi: The Supreme Court has expressed disappointment over the Union government filing appeals against a disability pension given to officers of the Indian Army even in cases where the courts have settled the legal position already, The Tribune has reported.
A bench led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna said, “We must observe and express our displeasure at the manner in which the appellants have been filing appeals against grant of disability pensions, even where the legal issue is settled.”
The court dismissed the Union government’s appeal against an order of the Armed Forces Tribunal on the payment of disability pension to a retired Lieutenant Colonel.
The Supreme Court in March had dismissed another plea filed by the Union government against an order passed by the Armed Forces Tribunal granting disability pension to a soldier.
The Tribunal in 2018 allowed a soldier’s claim for rounding off the disability element of his pension to the extent of 50% in accordance with a Supreme Court ruling that this rounding off was available not just to officers invalidated out of service, but also to officers who superannuated after completion of tenure.
The Tribune had then reported that a soldier had sustained injuries leading to a disability which while “not attributable to military service” according to a medical board, was “aggravated by stress and strain of service”.
As per rules, only one criterion out of the two – “attributable” or “aggravated”, is required for grant of disability pension, the report said. However, the soldier’s claim was rejected and when he moved the Armed Forces Tribunal, the judges asked the government to release his disability pension.
The Union government’s appeal to the Supreme Court against the payment was dismissed.
“Experts dealing with the subject say that despite multiple directions to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) from time to time by the Defence Minister and strictures by the Supreme Court, the practice of filing appeals against disabled soldiers has not slowed down,” Tribune has noted.