Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 19

Years after multiple judicial pronouncements and strictures by courts, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) today issued orders authorising disability pension to those who had sought pre-mature retirement prior to 2006.In 2004, the Delhi High Court had deprecated the MoD rule that prohibited grant of disability and war injury benefits to premature retirees. Similar orders were passed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court and later upheld by the SC.In 2009, the MoD issued a letter authorising disability benefits to voluntary retirees but had restricted its applicability to only post-2006 retirees. The cut-off date of 2006 was also struck down by the Principal as well as Chandigarh Benches of the Armed Forces Tribunal and the decision was reinforced in 2014 by a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court headed by Justice Hemant Gupta. The MoD, however, continued to refuse benefits to affected disabled personnel, except those who approached courts.In November 2015, a committee of experts constituted by then Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar, to reduce litigation in the armed forces come down heavily on the MoD for indulging in filing frivolous appeals against its employees, including disabled soldiers.The panel specifically recommended the removal of the prohibition once it had been struck down by courts. The committee stated that the denial of benefits was based upon a “false foundation, wrong inputs and unethical propaganda”.