Ex Rect Prakash Chand (Army) vs UOI & Others on 6 August 2025

O R D E R

06.08.2025

MA No 901/2018

1. MA No 901/2018 has been filed by the Applicant for hearing the case at Regional Bench, Jaipur. Having considered the reasons and grounds stated in the MA, the prayer of the Applicant is allowed to be heard at Regional Bench, Jaipur.

OA No 784/2018

2. By way of this Application under Section 14 of the Armed Forces Tribunal Act 2007, the Applicant has filed this OA, praying for directing the Respondents for grant of Disability Pension to the Applicant from the date of his discharge from Service on 28.02.1981 along with rounding off benefits of Disability Element of Disability Pension and further direct the Respondents to call the Applicant for Re-Survey Medical Board and that the arrears be paid along with interest @ 18%.

3. Brief facts of the case as enunciated by the Applicant are that the Applicant was enrolled in the Army on 25.08.1980. While undergoing basic military training, the Applicant suffered from Disability “Dracontiasis (Rt) Leg” due to drinking of contaminated water due to which he was invalided out of military service on medical grounds on 31.01.1981 without any pensionary benefits. The Applicant submits that at the time of joining the Army, he was physically and medically fit and no note of his disability was made in medical sheet and he suffered from the disability due to drinking of contaminated water during training period, therefore, in terms of the Entitlement Rules and Pension Regulations, his disability ought to be considered as Attributable to Military Service and the Applicant be granted Disability Pension. In support of his claim, the Applicant placed reliance on Hon’ble Supreme Court judgment in the case of Dharamvir Singh Vs UOI & Ors (2014) STPL 468 SC. The Applicant made petition for grant of Disability Pension, however, the same was rejected by the Respondents vide impugned Order dt 09.01.2017. Therefore, the aggrieved Applicant has filed present OA.

4. The Respondents have submitted that the service documents of the Applicant have been destroyed after expiry of their mandatory retention period. However, as per Long Roll available, the Applicant was invalided out of service on 08.02.1981 due to disease “Dracontiasis” (Rt) Leg” and disability pension claim of the Applicant was rejected by PCDA (P) vide their letter dt 07.04.1981 which means that the Applicant was not fulfilling the twin conditions for grant of Disability Pension in terms of Rule 173 of Pension Regulations for the Army, 1961 (Part-1). The Applicant was also communicated about rejection of his disability pension claim vide letter dt 16.04.1981 with an advice to prefer an appeal against rejection of his disability pension claim. Further, in terms of Rule 132 of aforesaid Pension Regulations, the minimum qualifying service for grant of Service Pension is 15 years whereas the Applicant was invalided out of service after rendering of 199 days of service only. Therefore, the Applicant is not eligible for grant of Service Pension. In view of the aforesaid averments, the Respondents have reiterated that the OA is devoid of merit and deserves to be dismissed.

During the course of arguments, considering the fact that the incubation period of Dracontiasis is about one year and the Applicant was invalided out of service just after rendering 199 days of service, including the treatment period in service hospitals, Learned Counsel for the Applicant submitted that he does not press for grant of Disability Pension and prays that his prayer be changed from Disability Pension to Invalid Pension under Govt of India, Ministry of Defence letter No 12(06)/2019/D (Pen/Pol) dt 16.07.2020, which is allowed. Accordingly, the prayer of the Applicant for grant of disability pension is not being considered as the disability of the Applicant was probably categorized as pre-existing disease, hence, neither attributable to nor aggravated by military service (NANA) and not pressed by the Applicant.

6. Further, Learned Counsel for the Applicant placed on record Hon’ble Delhi High Court judgment dt 07.07.2025 in WP(C) 8183/2025 and CM Appl 35838/2025, CM Appl 35839/2025 in the case of UOI & Ors Vs Ex Rect Fateh Singh, Larger Bench of Hon’ble AFT (PB) New Delhi Order dt 14.03.2024 in OA No 57/2020 (RB Jabalpur) in the case of Hav Raj Kumar (Retd) Vs UOI & Ors and Hon’ble Supreme Court judgment dt 06.08.2024 in Civil Appeal Nos 1320- 1321/2019 in the case of Ex Cpl Ranganathan Nair Vs UOI & Ors and submitted that the Respondents may be directed to decide the case of the Applicant afresh for grant of Invalid Pension in the light of Hon’ble Delhi High Court judgment in the case of Ex Rect Fateh Singh (Supra). Learned Counsel for the Respondents raised no objection if the case is remanded back to the Respondents for consideration of the request for grant of Invalid Pension as prayed for by the Applicant. However, it would be prudent to examine the prayer of the Applicant for grant of Invalid Pension under the Govt of India, Ministry of Defence letter dt 16.07.2020 (supra).

7. As regards Invalid Pension to be granted to the Applicant, as prayed for by the Counsel for the Applicant during the course of hearing, the relevant extracts of Govt of India, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (Department of Pensions and Pensioners’ Welfare) OM No 21/01/2016-P&PW(F) dated 12/2/2019 state as follows :-

“Grant of invalid Pension under Rule 38 of the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972 - Clarification regarding.

The undersigned is directed to say that Rule 38 and Rule 49 of the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972 have been amended vide Notification No. 21/1/2016- P&PW(F) dated 4th January, 2019 (copy enclosed). The proviso to the amended Rule 38 of the CCS (Pension) Rules provides that a Government servant, who retires from service on account of any bodily or mental infirmity which permanently incapacitates him for the service before completing qualifying service of ten years, may also be granted invalid pension in accordance with sub- rule (2) of rule 49, subject to the conditions that the Government servant: (a) was examined by the appropriate medical authority either before his appointment or after his appointment to the service or post and was declared fit by that authority for Government service, and (b) fulfils all other conditions mentioned in this rule for grant of invalid pension.

2. In this connection, it is clarified that the condition of qualifying service of ten years for grant of pension under Rule 49(2) of the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972 shall not be applicable in the case of a Government servant retiring on Invalid Pension on account of any bodily or mental infirmity, under Rule 38. Accordingly, Invalid Pension at the rate of 50% of emoluments or average emoluments, whichever is more beneficial, subject to a minimum of nine thousand rupees per mensem and maximum of one lakh twenty five thousand rupees per mensem, shall be payable to a Government servant who retires under Rule 38 of CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972 even before completing a qualifying service of ten years.”

8. The provisions of GoI letter dt 12.02.2019 (supra) have further been extended to Armed Forces Personnel vide GoI, MoD letter No 12(06)/2019/D (Pen/Pol) dt 16.07.2020, the relevant paragraphs of which read as under:-

“Government of India, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare vide their OM No 21/01/2016-P&PW(F) dated 12th February 2019 has provided that a Government servant, who retires from service on account of any bodily or mental infirmity which permanently incapacitates him from the service before completing qualifying service of ten years, may also be granted invalid pension subject to certain conditions. The provisions have been based on Government of India, Gazette Notification No. 21/1/2016-P&PW(F) dated 04.01.2019.

2. The proposal to extend the provisions of Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare O.M. No. 21/01/2016-P&PW(F) dt 12.02.2019 to Armed Forces personnel has been under consideration of this Ministry. The undersigned is directed to state that Invalid Pension would henceforth also be admissible to Armed Forces personnel with less than 10 years of qualifying service in cases where personnel are invalided out of service on account of any bodily or mental infirmity which is Neither Attributable to Nor Aggravated by Military Service and which permanently incapacitates them from military service as well as civil reemployment.

3. Pension Regulation of the Services will be amended in due course.

4. The provision of this letter shall apply to those Armed Forces Personnel who were/ are in service on or after 04.01.2019. The cases in respect of personnel who were invalided out from service before 04.01.2019 will not be re-opened.

5. All other terms and conditions shall remain unchanged.

6. This issues with the concurrence of Finance Division of this Ministry vide their U.O. No. 10(08)/2016/FIN/PEN dated 29.06.2020.

7. Hindi version will follow.”

9. From the above, it is clear that to be eligible for grant of Invalid Pension, the applicant must fulfil the following two conditions :- (a) He must be permanently incapacitated for Military as well as Civil Employment, before completing 10 years of service.

(b) He should have been in service as on 04/1/2019 or thereafter.

10. From the foregoing, it is clear that the Applicant was invalided out from service on medical grounds on 31.01.1981, ie, much before the date of applicability of Govt of India, Ministry of Defence letter dated 16/7/2020 without disability/invalid pension as per the then rules/regulations in force.

11. The MoD letter dt 16.07.2020 allows Invalid Pension to be granted to those personnel who are permanently incapacitated from Military Service as well as Civil employment and, that too, only to those personnel who were in service on or after 04.01.2019. Further, it has also been specifically mentioned that the cases of those personnel who were invalided out from service before 04/1/2019 would not be reopened. Nowhere has it been laid down that such Invalid Pension would be granted wef 04.01.2019 to those personnel who were invalided out from service before 04.01.2019, if otherwise eligible, as such cases are not to be reopened.

12. In view of the aforesaid facts, we are of the considered view since that the Applicant was invalided out from service much before the cut-off date, ie., 04.01.2019, which is about 37 years before the cut-off date, the Applicant is not eligible for grant of Invalid Pension in terms of Govt of India letter dated 16/7/2020. Further, the Applicant has placed nothing on record to show that he tried to get a job in civil employment, but he was not able to get the job due to his disability. The very fact that the OA has been filed after 38 years of his discharge and the revised plea for grant of Invalid Pension was taken after 45 years of his discharge, without disclosing as to what he was doing all these years, and his employability now is ruled out, raises a doubt that he would have remained unemployed even after trying to get a job, as nothing has been mentioned as to how he was maintaining himself and his family, if available all these years. The requirements of remaining physically and mentally fit is totally distinct between the Civil and Armed Forces. In the Armed Forces, a soldier has to remain physically and mentally fit at all times to defend his motherland as mandated by the Constitution and the medical standards are quite rigorous. However, in the Civil, an employee can be employed in any post which does not require rigors of service and even those who are unfit for Military Service get re- employed in Civil. That is why in the Invaliding Medical Board/ Release Medical Board, the Medical Board has to specifically recommend whether such Military personnel are fit or unfit for employment in Civil, when they are declared Unfit for Military Service and are medically boarded out. Therefore, it is presumed that a person discharged from defence services on medical grounds can be employed in civil and that fact is clearly mentioned in the discharge book at the time of his discharge from military service, based on the recommendations of the Invaliding Medical Board/ Release Medical Board, as the case may be. However, in the civil employment, a person is invalided out from service only if he is permanently incapacitated to perform any type of duties. It is obvious that a person who is considered unfit for employment in Civil would never be considered fit for Military Service. In the present case, the service documents of the Applicant have been destroyed after expiry of their mandatory retention period and, hence, in the absence of authenticated documents, it cannot be established whether he was fit for civil service or not and he cannot be extended benefit of reasonable doubt as the onus for establishing this is on the Applicant and he has failed to do so. Therefore, the Applicant is not eligible for grant of Invalid Pension in terms of Govt of India letters dt 12.02.2019 and 16.07.2020, as he does not fulfil the twin criteria, ie, the date of invalidment/ discharge as also fitness for Civil employment.

13. As regards Hon’ble High Court of Delhi Order dated 07.072025 in the case of Ex Rect Fateh Singh (Supra), cited by the Counsel for the Applicant, it has been seen that the judgment has been passed only on the grounds that it appears that interim order has not been passed against the SLP filed by the Union of India against AFT (RB), Lucknow Order dt 11.03.2022 in OA No 368/2021 in the case of Ex Rect Chhote Lal Vs UOI. As is clear from the MoD letter dt 16.07.2020 that it is based on the O.M. dt 12.02.2019 issued by Govt of India, Deptt of P&PW, where it has been mandated that this would be applicable in those cases where a “Govt servant who retires from service on account of any bodily or mental infirmity which permanently incapacitates him for service before completing qualifying service of 10 years may also be granted Invalid Pension in accordance with Sub-Rule (2) of Rule 49, subject to certain conditions”. It is obvious that the Govt servants being talked of in this O.M. are employees in Civil posts and not Military personnel as based on this O.M., a separate Order has been issued by GoI, MoD on 16.07.2020. Hence, it can’t be implied that even if an invalided out person is fit for Civil employment, he is entitled for Invalid Pension. It is an accepted fact that the rigors of Military Service and the fitness standards of defence personnel are far higher than those of civilians. Hence, it is inconceivable that if a person is fit for civil employment, he should be granted Invalid Pension for any period of military service less than ten years, be it one day even. Theoretically, this would mean that if a Service person is invalided out after a service of just one day, he would be entitled to Invalid Pension even if the disability was self-inflicted as NANA would cover that. To keep parity with the civilian personnel, the provisions for such persons being unfit for both Civil as well as Military Service has been kept in MoD letter dt 16.07.2020. Since the basic letter providing such a relief has not yet been amended, the provisions relating to unfitness for Military as well as Civil employment would remain in force, otherwise it would result in undue advantage to the invalided out Military personnel especially when there is no condition of duration of service/ employment with Military nor the attributability or aggravation of disability due to Military Service and fitness for employment in civil. Since it creates a different class of personnel for the benefit of Invalid Pension wef 04.01.2019, the classification is considered reasonable as specific provision has been made for such personnel.

14. As far as the question of date of implementation of MoD letter dt 16.07.2020, ie., wef 04.01.2019, is concerned, it has been observed that the cut- off date, ie., 04.01.2019, has been provided as the main Order of DOP&PG was issued and implemented wef this date, based on which MoD letter dt 16.07.2020 was issued. Since it is a new provision in the sense that it would be applicable in case of disability being NANA and no minimum tenure of service, a cut-off date has to be there. There may have been thousands of cases of invalidation out of military personnel, their disability being NANA, who would have been invalided out from Military Service prior to 04.01.2019 and paid their dues, including Invalid Gratuity as per Pension Regulations. If the cut-off date is done away with, all those who were invalided out/ discharged owing to some disability from the Defence Services and being NANA, wherein no attributability or aggravation was there due to military service factors, all such personnel or their NoK/ Wards would file cases for seeking invalid pension from the date of discharge and :-

(i) the Services Headquarters/ Armed Forces Tribunals would be flooded with plethora of cases seeking Invalid Pension even though those would have been settled and payment of Invalid Gratuity having been made in all such cases, as per rules in force, which is not desirable; and

(ii) it would result in undue advantage to those invalided out personnel who got the claim settled and payment of Invalid Gratuity having been already made in all such cases after discharge, when a specific clause has been added that past cases would not be re-opened. If the date of implementation is done away with, theoretically it would mean that such veterans who were invalided out in World War-I onwards or their Next-of Kins would be claiming invalid pension which would be a huge burden on the exchequer and the administrative authorities as in most of the cases as in the instant case, relevant documents might not be available.

15. In view of the above, the case of the Applicant fails on both counts, ie, he was not in service on 04/1/2019, nor was he fully unfit for civil employment, as he has nothing on record contrary to it. Hence, he is not entitled to Invalid Pension either under Govt of India, Ministry of Defence letter dated 16/7/2020.

16. However, in the light of the Order of the Hon’ble Delhi High Court (supra), Govt of India, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensioners) letter Nos 21/01/2016-P&PW(F) dt 04.01.2019 and 12.02.2019 and Govt of India, Ministry of Defence letter No 12(06)/2019/D(Pol/Pen) dt 16.07.2020, other extant rules/ regulations and our comments in paragraphs 7 to 15, and the prayer of the Counsel for the Applicant, we deem it appropriate to remand the case back to the Respondents to decide the case of the Applicant for Invalid Pension afresh taking note of overall aspects of the matter. We expect the Respondents to take a well considered decision in this matter within six months from the date of receipt of a copy of this Order.

17. The OA is disposed off accordingly. Pending Miscellaneous Applications(s), if any, also stand disposed off.

18. No order on costs.

(SANJIV MITTAL)

(GOVERDHAN BARDHAR) MEMBER (A)

MEMBER (J)

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