Dinesh (Army) vs UOI & Others on 4 November 2025

ORDER

04.11,2025 .... Respondents retarded son of Late Sep Daya Nand, has filed this OA praying to jssue an appropriate order or direction commanding the Respondents to notify marriage'casualty Smt'Santosh, wife of deceased Ex Sep Dayanand as well as birth casualty of Dinesh, their son, to pave way for family pension to the applicant and process the family pension claim to the Respondent No 2 within time bound period. He has also prayed for directing the Respondents to grant pension to the applicant from the date he attained majority or as provided under the existing rules alongwith interest @12%. The applicant, claiming to be the mentallvreta

2. Brief facts of the case as enunciated by the applicant are that the father of the applicant was enrolled in the Army on 26/2/57 and was transferred to Reserve Pension

Establishment on 13/5/65. On completion of his 15 years of combined colour and reserve service, he was granted Service Pension and was in receipt of the same till his death. Father of the applicant died on 10/11/2003. Wife of the deceased pensioner had expired on 15/6/2003, ie, prior to the death of his father, leaving the applicant as an orphan who has nothing to bank upon. He further submits that in terms of Govt of India, Ministry of Defence letter dated 22/7/1994, son/daughter suffering from any disorder of disability of mind, or who is physicaly crippled or disabled are entitied to ordinary family pension independent of the pension awarded to the parents. This provision is further fortified vide Govt of india, Ministry of Defence, Department of Ex Servicemen Welfare letter Circular dated 17/1/2013, and this facts have not been contradicted by the Respondents and thus treated to have been admitted. However, despite best efforts, relief has so far not, been granted to the applicant by the Respondents and, hence, OA has been filed, praying for relief.

3. The Respondents have fled a -detailed Reply Statement. At the outset, they have raised preliminary objection to the DA stating that the applicant is claiming to be mentally retarded, théreforé, he cannot file the suit and affidavit as per law and hence, the OA is liable to be dismissed. Further, the controversy iFvolved in the instant OA does not figure as a service matter as is defined in Section 3 (0) of the Armed Forces Trbunal Act 2007. Therefore, this Hon'ble Tribunal has nopower and jurisdiction to entertain and decide the same and the instant OA S liable to be dismissed on the ground of choosing wrong orum by the applicant t for adjudication of the matter. ORCES Without prejudice to the preliminary objection to the maintainability of the OA, the Respondents further submit that NO 3141720NLate Sep Daya Nand, the alleged father of the applicant, Mr Diiesh,, was enrolled in the Army on 26/2/1957 for seven years colour and eight years reserve service. He had attained the age of 20 years on the date of his enrolment but declared his marital status as unmarried. Having been extended the colour service from time to time, he was transferred to Reserve Establishment wef 14/4/1966. He was called for colour service again and was further transferred to Reserve Pension Establishment and finally discharged from service on 27/3/1972 and was granted Reservist Pension wef 27/3/1972 for Iife. During his service, after proceeding on reserve pension establishment and even upto the date of his death, ie, 10/11/2003, the deceased soldier never submitted any docurnent for endorsement of his marriage or the birth of any child in his service record for seeking benefit as admissible to the families of ex-servicemen. It implies that the deceased soldier was unmarried on the date of his death. After a lapse of nine years from the date of death of the soldier, Shri Dinesh, claiming himself as the son and sole heir of the deceased soldier applied for recording his name in the service documents of the deceased through the District Soldier Welfare Office, Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan vide their letter No 1579 dated 23/9/2013, annexing the detailed affidavit swearing sole, legal and eligitble family member for grant of family pension alongwith copies of birth certificate, ration card, Adhdar Card, disäbility certificate and two photographs of the applicant duly attested by the Zila Sainik Adhikari, copy of dependent certificate issued by the village Sarpanch, discharge book and copy of death certificate of the deceased Smt Santosh duly attested by District Soldier Welfare Officer. Since the name of the wife of the decasede mother of the applicant as mentioned in his application was not existing in the service records of the deceased, non feasibility of processing his application was conveyed vide Records letter dated 02/11/2013, Annexure A/7 of the OA He had also sent legal notice to the Respondents through the PCDA (P) in his hot pursuit for entering the name of his mother Smt Santosh in the service record, which was also replied to by the Respondents in the negative on the ground that thè deceased soldier was unmarriéd aDd entry regarding name of \ his so-called mother astecorded in the Pension Certificate cannot be taken as the authority for publication of ó currence regarding his birth vide Records letter dated rORCES 21/9/2016. Yet another legal notice was lso served upon the Respondents by the applicant. Respondents further sübinit that thie name of the applicant cannot be entered at this belated stage in the service document of the deceased soldier for the reasons stated heréjn. Moreover, the applicant had not put forth any bona fide legal document such as succession certificate from the civil court certifying that the applicant is the only heir and son of the deceased soldier. Instead of taking substantial steps to submit requisite documents, the applicant has taken legal recourse by way of filing the OA for entering occurrence regarding marriage of late Smt Santosh and his own birth in the service record of the deceased soldier so that the family pension can be granted in his favour. With regard to the application for condonation of delay involved in filing the OA, the Respondents have stated that the OA filed after a delay of more than 13 years for entering his name and his so-called mother's name is questionable and suffers culpable delay and latches. Having submitted the factual position of the case, the Respondents have prayed for dismissing the OA with costs.

4. In compliance of Order dated 03/2/2025, directing the Respondents to verify and certify the antecedents of the applicant herein and his so-called mother, the Respondent have filed compliance report on 30/6/2025, affirming that vide letter dated 13/3/2025, Annexure R/7, the Respondents have confirmed that, "on scrutiny of service documents in respect of No 3141720X late Sep Daya Nand, no occurrence regarding marriage of the individual with Smt Santhosh, the alleged wife, has been found endorsed, copy of Sheet Roll is annexed at Annexure R/8. Neither the applicant nor the late soldier have ever appröached Records Jat Regt for publication of OCcurrence regarding contacting marriage or birth of a child. It has also been confirmed through DPDO, Jhúnihunu through the SPARSH PCDA (P) that there is no record that Smt Santosts the legally wedded wife of the deceased soldier and no record of copy of dupljicate pension certificate, Annexure R/9".

5. record. We have heard the counisels for the parties and perused the material placed on

UNAL From the statement of the Respondents and pérusal of material on record, it is ORCES amply evident that late Sep Daya Nand Wh¡ had rendered 15 years of qualifying service was granted _erviçe ReserNist st pension forlife, was a chronic bachelor till his demise on 10/11/2003. The so-called mother of the applicant was also reported to have expired on 15/6/2003, ie, even before Sep Daya Nand died, as per the copy of the Death Certificate issued on 27/8/2013 by the Govt of Rajasthan, Directorate of Economics and Statistics. It would be prudent to observe that the applicant had waited for a long period 13 years from the date of death of his father to approach the Respondents with his claim for grant of family pension. It has also been unequivocally clarified by the Respondents vide their Reply Statement and additional affidavit filed in compliance of Order dated 03/2/2025 that the deceased soldier had during his life neither intimated the Record Office about having entered into a wedlock with Santosh, the so-called mother of the applicant herein and the birth of the applicant herein as the legitimate son of the deceased soldier. As per Annexure A/6, Copy of the Disability Certificate, issued by the Govt BDK Hospital, Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan, the applicant is stated to be a mentally retarded person with more than 50% disabilty. While the applicant in the OA had stated that the name of his mother, "Santosh" as the wife of the deceased soldier, is found mentioned in the Pension Certificate, the Respondents vide their Reply Statement had refuted the statement of the applicant by stating that late Sep Daya Nand was unmarried and entry regarding name of Santosh as his wife as recorded in duplicate Pension Certificate cannot be taken as an authority for publication of occurrence regarding the birth of the applicant, as the deceased soldier never declared his marriage with 'Smt Santosh or birth of the applicant as his son or executed nominations for family pension üring his lifetime. To get a clarity on that 0ssue, this Tribunal, vide Order dated 03/2/2025, directed the Counsel for the Applicant to place on record the oriainafcopy of the Pension Certificate held in his p0Ssession for the perusal of this Tribunal. However, the direction hàs not been complied with by the Counsel for the Applicant. In view of the foregoing and since the applicant ha_ not submitted any bona fide legal document such as Succession Certificate issued by the Competent Civil Court to prove his credential_ beyond reasonable doubt Consideration the overall facts Dayd Nand and to meet the ends of i u c t i g i a l e son of late Sep ORCES and cirCumstances, we direct the applicant to submit a fresh Representation alongwith Succession Certificate and al otherlieleyant doquments including the proof that his mother was indeedmarried to late Sepoy Dáya Nand to the Competent Authority within a périod of one month from the date of receipt of a copy of this Order, if so desired. Upon receipt of such a Representation alongwith all legal documents from the applicant, the Respondents shall consider and decide the prayer of the applicant in its entirety for grant of Family Pension or otherwise in accordance with extant policies and rules on the subject within a period of six months thereafter. The outcome thereof shall be intimated to the Applicant.

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9. cda/ (SANJIV MITTAL) MEMBER (A)

The OA is disposed off accordingly. No order on costS. MA 434/2025 in OA 303/2017 Shri Dinesh (mentally Retarded) S/o Late Sep Daya and Pending applications, if any, also stand disposed off. ARMED (GOVERDHAN BARDHAR) MEMBER (J) TRIBUN