Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 4

Ruling that a person who has gone to watch a movie after duty with due permission of the authorities will be considered as being on duty for the purpose of benefits in case of any mishap, if he meets with an accident, the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) has granted special family pension to the mother of an airman almost a decade after his death.Corporal Vishal Raj, who belonged to Pathankot, had died in a road accident in 2009 when the motorcycle on which he was travelling along with another airman met with an accident while they were returning to Kalaikunda Air Force Station in West Bengal after watching a film in a nearby town.The Ministry of Defence, however, refused to sanction special family pension that is applicable for armed forces personnel who die on duty on the grounds that his death was not attributable to military service. His mother, Tripta Devi, was sanctioned only ordinary pension.Thereafter, she approached the AFT, claiming that her son was on active military service and was not on leave at the time of accident. In her petition, she contended that before going for the movie, he had made the necessary entries in the records of his squadron and had properly booked-out of the sub-guard room. The ministry, on the other hand, argued that based upon the court of inquiry proceedings, he was not performing any military duty at the time of the accident and consequently his family was not entitled to the special pension.Drawing inference from past judgments on the issue by the high courts, the AFT and the relevant provisions of law, the tribunal’s Chandigarh Bench comprising Justice Mohammad Tahir and Lt Gen Munish Sibal held that in view of the facts and circumstances of the case, Vishal had sustained injuries while he was on duty and the injuries because of which he died, can be attributable to military service.The tribunal had directed the Ministry of Defence to calculate the special family pension and release it to Tripta Devi within three months. The arrears of the pension, however, have been restricted to three years preceding the date of filing the petition as she had moved the AFT after a lapse of seven years from the incident.Relief to airman’s kin AFT’s Chandigarh Bench allowed special family pension to the mother of an airman from Pathankot who died after sustaining injuries in an accident during his posting at Kalaikunda Air Force Station in West Bengal. The victim was returning after watching a film in a nearby town

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