6 hrs ago
Allahabad High Court Orders Disability Pension for Retired Army Havaldar
Jeetendra Kumar served in the Indian Army for more than 27 years.
He developed a seizure disorder during his service.
Doctors said he was 20 per cent disabled for life, but they denied that the illness was connected to his military work.
Because of that decision, he was not given disability pension.
The Allahabad High Court said the doctors had not explained their conclusion properly.
The court said an unexplained medical opinion cannot be used to take away a soldier’s pension.
It did not cancel Kumar’s medical discharge from the Army.
Instead, it ordered the authorities to give him the pension and related benefits immediately.
The Allahabad High Court ordered disability pension for former Army Medical Corps Havaldar Jeetendra Kumar.
Kumar served 27 years, three months and two days before his medical discharge in April 2022.
A medical board assessed his seizure disorder as 20 per cent disabling for life but found it unrelated to Army service.
The court said the board gave inadequate reasons and failed to properly record Kumar’s medical history.
The court upheld his discharge but ordered immediate pension and all attendant benefits under applicable rules.
- Who
- Former Army Medical Corps Havaldar Jeetendra Kumar, the Union government and other authorities, and the Allahabad High Court.
- What
- The court ordered disability pension for Kumar after finding that the medical board had not adequately explained why his seizure disorder was unrelated to military service.
- Where
- The case concerned Kumar’s service in the Indian Army, with medical records referring to Lucknow, Base Hospital Delhi Cantonment and Military Hospital Bareilly.
- When
- Kumar served from April 30, 1998, until April 30, 2022; the release medical board met on March 3, 2022, and the High Court issued its decision on September 2.
- Why
- The court found that the medical board’s brief conclusion lacked adequate reasons and did not properly record Kumar’s medical history.
Kumar’s Position
Government’s Position
Connection to military service
Kumar’s Position
Kumar’s records showed no seizure disorder when he joined the Army, and he argued that the condition arising during service supported his pension claim.
Government’s Position
The Union government relied on the medical board’s conclusion that the disorder began while Kumar was on leave at a peace station, with no evidence of service-related trauma or infection.
Medical board reasoning
Kumar’s Position
Kumar’s side argued that the pension could not be denied on the basis of a brief and unexplained medical opinion.
Government’s Position
The government relied on the board’s findings that the disorder was neither attributable to nor aggravated by military service.
Effect of peace-station posting
Kumar’s Position
The tribunal and High Court noted that peace stations can involve military training, stress and strain, and that regulations do not automatically exclude disabilities arising in peace conditions.
Government’s Position
The government emphasized that the seizure disorder first surfaced in Lucknow, a peace area, rather than during field or active service.
Key facts
- Claimant
- Jeetendra Kumar, a former Army Medical Corps Havaldar
- Length of service
- 27 years, three months and two days
- Disability
- Seizure Disorder (G40.9), assessed at 20 per cent for life
- Medical discharge
- April 30, 2022, in the low medical category
- Medical board
- Held at Military Hospital, Bareilly, on March 3, 2022
- Earlier tribunal ruling
- The Armed Forces Tribunal allowed Kumar’s disability pension claim on October 6, 2023
- High Court remedy
- Immediate disability pension with all attendant benefits under the applicable rules
Quotes
Allahabad High Court bench of Justices Alok Mathur and Amitabh Kumar Rai
Judges who heard the Union government’s challenge to the Armed Forces Tribunal’s pension order
“The requirement to give reasons by the Medical Board is crucial, critical, decisive and necessary for the purpose of granting or denying disability pension and it is not a mere formality”
indianexpress.com
Sources
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