In a landmark legal ruling protecting the welfare of armed forces personnel, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has delivered a decisive judgment stating that the disability pension of a soldier medically discharged from service cannot be arbitrarily halted. The court ruled that authorities cannot stop pension disbursements on the grounds that a subsequent medical re-assessment pegs the disability percentage at less than 20 percent, reinforcing financial security for military veterans who suffer service-aggravated medical conditions.Background of the Case and Tribunal RulingThe significant ruling came from a division bench comprising Justice Harsimran Singh Sethi and Justice Amarinder Singh Grewal, which dismissed a petition filed by the central government and upheld a previous order by the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) in Chandigarh. The legal battle stemmed from the case of Ratan Chand, who was medically discharged from the Indian Army on July 31, 1989, due to Chronic Duodenal Ulcer. At the time of his discharge, the Release Medical Board officially assessed his service-aggravated disability at 30 percent. However, in 1994, the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Pension) in Allahabad re-estimated his disability to be between 15 and 19 percent for life, subsequently halting his disability pension starting June 20, 1994. Challenging this arbitrary stoppage, the AFT earlier ruled in favor of the veteran, ordering the restoration of his pension and granting him the benefit of rounding off his 30 percent disability assessment to 50 percent.High Court Cites Supreme Court Precedents on Mandatory PresumptionsDuring the proceedings, the High Court emphasized that because the soldier was officially discharged on the basis of a 30 percent disability deemed aggravated by military service, subsequent downward revisions cannot legally strip him of his entitled benefits. Citing established Supreme Court precedents, the bench reiterated that whenever a member of the armed forces is invalided out or discharged due to a disability, the law mandates the presumption that their disability exceeded 20 percent at the time of exit. Furthermore, the bench affirmed that the established legal principle of rounding off a 30 percent disability to 50 percent applies seamlessly, leaving no ground for the central government to contest the veteran's rightful claims. Finding no legal infirmity or error in the AFT's July 14, 2023 order, the High Court dismissed the central government's challenge and disposed of all related pending applications.
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