HC fines MoD for plea against orders based on SC judgments

Taking exception to the Centre filing an appeal against an order of the Armed Forces Tribunal in a case of disability pension where the law has already been settled by the courts, the Delhi High Court has imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Navy.

The HC had made it clear to the MoD in October that if it continued to challenge orders covered by previous judgments, it would be burdening the ministry with heavy costs for wasting public money and time of the court.

The Bench of Justice Navin Chawla and Justice Shalinder Kaur, on November 12, dismissed the writ petition filed by the MoD and the Navy against the grant of disability pension to a former Navy Commander, AK Srivastava, who had been granted relief by the AFT on the basis of the law laid down by the SC.

The top court had held that the benefit of doubt for disability was to be given to medical conditions arising during service unless the disability was pre-existing and a note had been recorded that it could not be detected on entry into service. The SC had held that soldiers were not to prove their entitlement and rules had to be interpreted liberally irrespective whether the disability was detected in peace or field area.

The MoD and the Navy, despite the case being covered by HC and SC judgments, had challenged the order which has now been dismissed by the HC with costs of Rs 50,000 to be paid to the officer by the ministry.