Tarsem Singh vs Union of India on 4 November 2026

ORDER

LT GEN (DR) RANBIR SINGH, MEMBER (A)

The applicant, Ex Havildar Tarsem Singh was enrolled in the Indian Army on 26.08.1986 and discharged on 30.11.2007 before completion of his terms of engagement as no sheltered appointment was available. At the time of discharge, he had a qualifying service of 21 years, 03 months and 07 days and was accordingly granted admissible service pension. He was issued a show cause notice 04.06.2007 (Annexure A-4) as to why he should not be discharged from service being in permanent low medical category and no sheltered appointment being available. In reply to the show cause notice, the applicant expressed his willingness to continue in service and stated that on doctor’s advice he could perform light duties (Annexure A- 5).

2. The applicant was promoted as a substantive Havildar on 01.01.2000 and served as Havildar till 30.11.2007 when he was discharged. The learned counsel for the applicant has submitted that the applicant had

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passed the promotion cadre to JCO rank in the year 2006 and his premature discharge from service in the rank of Havildar is bad in law. The learned counsel for the applicant has further submitted that consequent to the Government Policy dated 30.05.2011 and the Hon’ble Supreme Court judgment dated 08.12.2017 in the matter of CA Diary No.3744 of 2018, Union of India Vs. Balbir Singh Turn & Anr,the MACP Scheme became operational w.e.f. 01.01.2006. The applicant forwarded a representation for waiver of one month of service for grant of MACP-III on the ground of completing 08 years in the rank of Havildar from January 2000 till November 2007. He has prayed for granting notional reinstatement in service till completion of 24 years of service as on 31.08.2010 along with the rank of Naib Subedar since he had passed the promotion cadre.

3. The learned counsel for the respondents has not disputed the basic facts of the case and has submitted that in compliance of Hon’ble Supreme Court order dated 07.11.2008 (Annexure A-8) passed in Civil Appeal No.6587 of 2008 (arising out of SLP (c) No 6037 of 2007)titled Union of India & Others Vs. Rajpal, an option letter was issued to the applicant vide letter dated December 2008 (Annexure R-4) to rejoin duty in the Army but he did not report for rejoining and now after lapse of nearly 14 years, he has served a legal notice for grant of MACP-III which has been replied to him with the rule position (Annexure R-5). The learned counsel for the respondents has placed reliance of the order of Larger Bench of AFT, Regional Bench Chandigarh in OA 332 of 2024, Hawa Singh Vs. Union of India and Others, wherein it has been ruled that non-qualifying service while calculating the period for grant of MACP has to be deducted

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and cannot be waived off. Para 11 of the judgment of Hawa Singh’s case (supra) is reproduced below:

11. Further, reference was made to advisory on grant of MACP in Integrated HQ of MoD (Army) policy dated 05.10.2021 in Para 2(e) which reads as under:- Para 1. X x x x “Para 2 (a) to (d) x x x x 2(e) Non qualifying service on account of AWL/OSL or RI period sentenced through court martial will also be deducted while calculating 8 years regular service for grant of MACP.” The above reference also makes it clear that non qualifying service on account of absence without leave is to be deducted while calculating the period for grant of MACP.

4. Learned counsel for the respondents has further stated that though the applicant had passed the promotion cadre to JCO, however he was discharged before any vacancy for JCO arose for him to be considered for the said rank as per his seniority. Hence the plea of the applicant for promotion to JCO is rejected.

5. We have heard the learned counsels of both sides and the material available on record. Placing reliance on the Larger Bench judgement in Hawa Singh (supra) decided on 19.11.2024, we have no hesitation to decide that the respondent No.3 has rightly rejected the claim of MACP-III to the applicant on the ground that he had not completed 24 years of qualified service. Hence, he cannot be granted notional reinstatement for being granted MACP-III nor can he be granted the rank of Naib Subedar.

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6. In view of the above, the Original Application lacks merit and is accordingly dismissed.

(Lt. Gen (Dr) Ranbir Singh)

(Justice Umesh Chandra Sharma) Member (A)

Member (J) 04th Nov, 2026 ‘MK’

Reportable or not