Vijay Mohan
Chandigarh, April 11
As many as 47 years after a veteran of the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War was invalided out of service on medical grounds because of wounds sustained in the battlefield, he has been granted war injury pension.
Option for Centre
We leave it open to the Centre to recover the amount from the salary of the officer(s) or official(s) responsible for denial of such claim to the petitioner. — Bench
Coming down heavily on the Centre, the Chandigarh Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal has held that soldier Jeet Singh of the Sikh Regiment is entitled to pension from the date of his discharge in July 1976 with all consequential benefits.
He had received injuries on the scalp and left leg, along with sensory neural deafness, due to a mine blast during deployment in Operation Cactus Lily in the Western Sector. His disability was assessed as 40 per cent, rounded off to 50 per cent, for life.
“Cost of Rs 25,000 is also imposed on the respondents for unnecessarily withholding the just claim of the petitioner for such a long time without there being any valid reason,” the Tribunal’s Bench comprising Justice Charam Chand Chaudhary and Lt Gen Ranbir Singh ruled.
Directing that the war injury element will continue to be paid to him for life, the Bench added, “We, however, leave it open to the Centre to recover the amount from the salary of the officer(s) or official(s) responsible for denial of such claim to the petitioner.”
Jeet was enrolled in the Army in September 1965 and discharged in low medical category after rendering 10 years and nine months of service. His injuries were held attributable to military service and he was granted disability pension but was denied the war injury element.
He had contended that such action on the part of the officials was in contravention of the government policies on the subject as well as the law laid down by the Supreme Court on this issue. Denial of such relief to him was not only illegal but contrary and capricious also, he averred.
The Bench observed there is no dispute that Operation Cactus Lily was an operation specifically notified by the the Centre and the injuries sustained by the soldier have admittedly been received in a mine blast during the operation. The reason for rejection of the claim for war injury pension is the absence of the battle casualty certificate.
“The petitioner is entitled to war injury pension instead of disability and the denial is not only an abuse of power vested in the respondents but capricious also,” the Bench ruled while referring to some of the judgements passed by the High Courts in similar cases.