Soldier injured on leave ‘attributable to service’: AFT
Navneet Dubey. Updated: 5/29/2023 12:52:10 AM
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Jammu: The Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) has ordered the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Pensions) to release the disability pension to a soldier who had suffered a disability in the process of getting a railway ticket to travel back to duty.
The authorities had rejected his claim on the pretext that the disability had no link with military service. Setting aside the rejection orders issued by the Army authorities, the Jammu bench of AFT, has held that the process of railway reservation for going back to a military unit falls within the definition of incidence of service under the rules, and therefore is attributable to military service.
The statutory court of inquiry conducted by the military authorities after his accident declared his disability as “attributable to military service”.
Disable soldier who was represented by Advocate Arjun Bhatia has relied upon various judgments of the apex court while arguing the matter and it was held that a positive declaration of ‘attributability or aggravation of a disability’ by a court of inquiry or medical authorities cannot be overridden by accounts or administrative authorities and their duty is only to calculate the pension and disburse the same and not sit in opinion over such positive declarations.
In this case, Hav. Arup Laha of the regiment of artillery, who belonged to Village Ucha Gram in District Burdwan of West Bengal met with an accident that left him disabled while on part annual leave when he was proceeding to the railway station for getting his railway reservation done for his journey back to his military unit. Crippled for life, the statutory court of inquiry conducted by the military authorities declared his disability as “not attributable to military service” since he was disabled in the process of getting his railway tickets to travel back to duty.
However, when the documents were sent for releasing his disability pension, the Regimental Records Office rejected his claim on the pretext that the disability was sustained while on leave and had no link with military service. After his representations to the Army headquarters were also rejected on similar grounds, he had approached the AFT through his counsel Arjun Bhatia.
Updated On 5/29/2023 12:53:38 AM